RockingHorse People, Rebels, and Redcoats
by gaelicchick
Summary: Finished: A secret group of students with unusual gifts. A band of unlikely friends drawn together by persecution. And the attempts of a Dark Lord to gain access to the most powerful energy supply on earth. Welcome to Hogwarts.
1. Chapter One: Back in Black

Rocking-Horse People, Rebels, and Redcoats  
  
"Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchial duties  
  
over all states, commonwealths and other territories.  
  
An American Responds: We have given your declaration all the consideration it deserves. It has some interesting points: Like spelling and pronunciation: We'll do what we darn well please, or we'll stop exporting Levis jeans to your younger generation. "  
  
1 Chapter One: Back in Black  
  
  
  
"Oh well, looks like its not here, too bad, can we go HOME now?"  
  
"Not funny, did we check the other platform? I could have sworn it was 9…"  
  
"We checked that platform, and the one next to it, and if you want to ask for directions again, you're doing it this time."  
  
"Did you get the eye roll?"  
  
"And the muttering, I can't STAND the muttering…"  
  
"Makes you feel like you're five years old."  
  
"Do you think if we just spoke Spanish it would throw 'em off?"  
  
"Nope, America must leave a stink on your clothes, these folks can smell us out, like police dogs… mmmm police dogs, hot dogs, I'm hungry."  
  
"Good luck finding something around here, do you like fish and chips?…. My thoughts exactly, didn't you bring some food?"  
  
"Tried to bring. You try getting apples past customs. Said it couldn't be let in, apparently we would bring in disease."  
  
"What was supposed to be carrying disease, the apples or us?"  
  
"Judging from the agent's expression, both I imagine."  
  
"Yup, definitely sounds like a place I want to spend the next eight months in."  
  
"You are not helping."  
  
"Well, didn't you write it down?"  
  
"Yes, but it washed off."  
  
"You wrote it on your hand? Lucy!"  
  
"I wasn't going to wash it, but that customs agent made me feel dirty, I HAD to!"  
  
"Well I guess you really aren't going now."  
  
"I'm going, just look for kids."  
  
"Oh, yeah, right."  
  
"Kids with trunks you idiot. Kids with trunks and big owls are better-"  
  
"Got one."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"I don't know, I swear they were there, and then they weren't… can we go HOME now, this place is giving me the creeps."  
  
"WHERE did you see them Diego?"  
  
"Over there," Diego waved his hand at platform 10. Lucy pushed her trunk in that direction.  
  
But when she got there, there were no signs of kids or trunks.  
  
Diego sighed and moved towards the barrier and out of the way of traffic.  
  
"Come on Luce," he said crossing his arms and leaning up against the wall, "Give it up and come on ho-"  
  
In the next moment Diego disappeared. Lucy grinned and clapped her hands, pushing the trunk through the barrier and coming out the other side.  
  
Diego was standing there, sputtering. "What was that?"  
  
Lucy laughed and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Oh, Diego, how nice of you to find the train for me!" She waved her hand at the shining engine standing to their right.  
  
Diego shook his head. "That's not right, barriers like that shouldn't be standing around so that any fool who leans against it can fall through."  
  
Lucy shrugged and bent down to refasten a clasp on her trunk. "Normal people probably aren't affected. I bet when you touched it, your mind just automatically tried to ground, and that was enough to pull you through the barrier."  
  
He shrugged, "You're the one who wants to be here."  
  
"I HAVE to be here. And you HAVE to go to Egypt, we discussed this already. Five times."  
  
"I still think you're making a mistake. Don't you remember how much you wanted to come home last year?"  
  
"Diego, there isn't any home left to go to."  
  
The talk dark haired chicano pretended to pout. "There's me."  
  
Lucy smiled and gave him a hug, "And you are going to Egypt and the Sahara. Espiritu is going to be safe as long as our protections hold, and I need to be here. Now hurry up or I am going to miss my train."  
  
The boy sighed, ran his hand through his hair, and picked up her trunk. "Where to?"  
  
Lucy grinned and pointed towards the nearest door. Diego hauled the trunk up and Lucy held open the door to the nearest empty compartment. When her things were settled, they went back out to the platform.  
  
"Last chance to get out of this."  
  
"Very funny. Stay out of trouble, and don't miss your flight home."  
  
He pretended to scratch his head and think. "You know, maybe gating at the airport might be a faster way to do it."  
  
Lucy rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, and have a group of twenty people try to burn you at the stake."  
  
He grinned devilishly, "That was kinda fun…"  
  
"My favorite jeans got singed by angry Hungarians and the smoke left my eyes bloodshot for a week, it was NOT fun Diego. Promise me you'll get on the plane."  
  
"Fine fine, have it your way." His gaze softened and he picked her up in a bone crushing hug. "Take care of yourself chica, and I'll see you at Christmas."  
  
"Remember, you promised to send me a Thanksgiving meal, I don't care what continent I'm on, I want turkey and stuffing, creamed onions, and good old fashioned canned cranberry sauce, and none of that fancy home-made stuff, cranberry sauce tastes better when you can still see the rings from the can."  
  
"I promise."  
  
The train's whistle blew and students started to pile on. Diego picked her up and set her in the doorway, walking backwards all the way to the barrier and stepping through without ever taking his eyes off her.  
  
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The jet lag had left Lucy feeling groggy and out of it, but on the whole the flight had been a better option than trying to gate to King's Cross. Lucy had only ever been there once, at the end of last year, and the odds she would make the right connection were slim to none. She wanted to see Hermione and the others, but she figured they had plenty of catching up of their own to get done first, she could see them at school.  
  
As it was, despite what she had said to Diego, Lucy was having a few second thoughts. Last year had been her first at Hogwarts, her real school was the Espiritu Institute, located in the deserts of western New Mexico. It had certainly come as quite a shock to everyone THERE when her mentor and guardian, Professor Antolin de La Vega, had decided to send her to Hogwarts that year rather than Egypt, or India, where most other post intermediate students spent their mandatory sabbatical years.  
  
She had hated it for a long time, and probably would have gone crazy without Faustas, a tierra guardian from Espiritu in the form of a red shouldered hawk. Faustas wasn't much of a comforter, more like someone who wouldn't let her feel sorry for herself for more than was necessary.  
  
But Faustas was gone, she reminded herself, and so was Espiritu, and now she was really on her own. The thought made her feel very tired.  
  
So she dragged herself back to her still empty compartment and curled up on the seat, dropping off into a peaceful slumber.  
  
That was interrupted a few moments later by the door being opened and a small sound of surprise.  
  
"Oh, sorry, I didn't know anyone was in here."  
  
Lucy looked up to see a small girl with straight blond hair plaited in pigtails and neat even blond bangs standing in the doorway wearing a smart blue dress, a trunk almost bigger than herself next to her.  
  
Lucy dragged herself into a sitting position and beckoned for her to come in.  
  
"Need a seat?"  
  
The girl nodded. Lucy got up and helped her stow her trunk, then gestured for her to take the seat across from her. The child was so small her feet almost didn't touch the floor, she was like a pixie.  
  
"First year?"  
  
A nod.  
  
Lucy grinned, "Listen, I'm Lucy, Lucy Montero, sixth year, well sort of anyway. And you are?"  
  
"Marguerite Ducasse."  
  
"French?"  
  
The girl played with the hem of her dress. "I was, I mean, I am. My parents, they are the French ambassadors to the English Ministry of Magic. We used to live in Paris, my brother went to Beuxbatons, so do my friends, but when Andre graduated last year, they took up the position again. They had been ambassadors before, when Andre was little, but they moved back to France when I was born and Andre started school there."  
  
Lucy nodded, "Do you miss home?"  
  
Marguerite nodded, "I miss our dog, we weren't allowed to bring him to England, he was a Great Dane, when I was little Andre used to put me on his back and I pretended he was a horse."  
  
Lucy smiled, "What was his name?"  
  
"Charlotte."  
  
"Really?"  
  
Marguerite actually laughed, "Well how was I supposed to know how to tell boy dogs and girl dogs apart? I was four!"  
  
Lucy laughed with her.  
  
"Andre always called him Charlie anyway."  
  
Lucy could sense she really loved her brother, she spoke about him like Lucy spoke about Diego, and she was about to ask her about him when there came another knock on the compartment door.  
  
It opened to reveal a gangly boy with a young, anxious face and messy black curls who had a pronounced lipstick mark on his cheek where his mother had apparently kissed him goodbye.  
  
"Is there any room in here?" His eyes begged for an affirmative, and Lucy nodded. The boy stepped aside to reveal a trunk with clothes sticking out under the lid, which he dragged inside and collapsed on top of as Lucy closed the door.  
  
"It refuses to stay shut, burst open on the platform already, I'm sure the whole station is still littered with my underwear." He groaned and opened the lid, shoving the unruly mess into a more compact form. Lucy and Marguerite got up and helped him, Marguerite produced some Spell-o tape from her trunk and together they secured the lid shut.  
  
"That ought to do it," Lucy collapsed onto her seat and the stranger dropped down next to Marguerite.  
  
"I'm Lucy Montero, by the way, and this is Marguerite Ducasse."  
  
The boy held out his hand, "Chester P. Parker. PLEASE call me Parker, please." Lucy stifled a chuckle and nodded while the tiny French girl giggled outright.  
  
"So, Parker, what year are you?"  
  
"First."  
  
"So am I," Marguerite piped up happily.  
  
"What about you?" He turned towards Lucy.  
  
"I'll be in sixth. Where are you from?"  
  
"Harrogate, in Yorkshire, anyway its up north. But neither of you sounds like you're from anywhere around here."  
  
"Well, actually, Marguerite here is technically a local…"  
  
Marguerite went on to explain about her parents jobs and moving around a bit, and at Lucy's prompting, the fierce and mighty Charlotte.  
  
"So what about you? I mean, I didn't think they let Americans in."  
  
Lucy sighed, "Well, I guess they never expressly forbid it. Maybe it was simply that no American in their right mind really wanted 'in' in the first place."  
  
The boy raised his eyebrow, "Fair enough, never thought of it that way. So what are you doing here?"  
  
Lucy shrugged, "Oh, that's easy Chester, I'm insane."  
  
She had to stick out her tongue to convince him that she was kidding, then the boy cracked a smile.  
  
"Seriously though, I don't know if either of you is familiar with what an airplane is, but I'm a suffering from some serious jet lag, and the only known cure is sleep. So you two go on ahead and get acquainted, I'm going to just drop off for a few minutes."  
  
The two first years looked at each other and shrugged, then spent the rest of the ride talking about Quidditch and what house they wanted to be in, while Lucy slept on completely oblivious.  
  
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She was awakened by a nasty rapping going up and down the car on compartment doors.  
  
"Hogwarts! Hogwarts in ten minutes! Get yer robes on! Have yer papers ready!" It was impossible to think until the gravel like voice moved into the next car.  
  
"Papers?" Chester looked confused, "What papers?"  
  
"These," Lucy groaned, pulling a thick stack of bright orange, neon blue, florescent yellow, and screaming lime green papers out of her pack. She had received the letter earlier in the summer informing her of the latest security measures being imposed by the Ministry. Any students with citizenship in nations outside of Great Britain had to obtain the required registration papers, in triplicate, to be filed with the appropriate people, she had no idea who they were, and had to report to a Ministry official immediately upon arriving in Hogsmeade. Lucy had no idea what good tracking them all was going to do, after all, it seemed to her the most dangerous people were already in the country. Nevertheless, she had triple checked that every i had been dotted and t had been crossed before she got on the plane.  
  
"What are they?" Chester looked at them in wonder. There was no way to hide the papers, they practically glowed.  
  
"They are a royal pain, that's what. Marguerite, do you have them to?" She noticed the girl staring uncomfortably at her satchel. She nodded.  
  
Lucy gave her a grin. "Good, I didn't want to have to go through all the red tape by myself." That earned her a grin, and she and the two newbies began to change into their robes. Lucy was eternally grateful that the patterns for Espiritu robes had not been destroyed during the attack. She had managed, with a lot of help from Ariana, the seamstress who worked next to the gas station, to make several sets of all black robes, still in the Espiritu style, but enough like Hogwarts robes that she shouldn't cause a stir, and no one but her need know she was still wearing the uniform of her real school.  
  
By the time they were finished and the trunks repacked, the train had stopped and people were starting to disembark. Lucy opened the compartment door and grinned over her shoulder at the younger two.  
  
"Well, here we go, again!"  
  
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As they exited into the hustle and bustle, Chester P. Parker followed another nervous looking boy off towards where Hagrid was calling all the first years. Lucy squeezed Marguerite's shoulder and they set off to the right, where a tall bald man with a severe face and a crooked nose was calling ,  
  
"Form a line! All international students, form a line, have your papers ready and in order! Yellow, orange, blue, then green, form a line!"  
  
"That sounds like us Marguerite, come on." She pulled the little girl through the crowd and stepped in line behind a chattering pair of irritated Italians and just before a whole pack of very vocal Australians. It seemed she wasn't the only one who found the new papers to be a royal pain.  
  
When they finally got to the head of the line they had to produce each of the papers, one by one, for inspection. 'Inspection' involved the ministry official muttering something and tapping the papers with his wand, after which they glowed, and combined with the already bright colors, the effect was hard to look at. Evidently that was all he wanted, and he was satisfied, when he tapped the papers again they stopped glowing and a heavy gold seal appeared under the spot where his wand had been on each one.  
  
"Sign this," he shoved a piece of blessedly normal white parchment and a couple of quills at them.  
  
"What is it?" Lucy eyed the paper suspiciously.  
  
"Just a contract giving the ministry full power to deport you if we deem necessary."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Just sign it."  
  
"Wait a second, I mean, why should-"  
  
"Are we going to have a problem already Miss Montero?"  
  
Lucy turned around to see Professor McGonagall standing with her arms crossed, apparently not entirely happy to see her.  
  
"No sir- ma'am," Lucy grimaced, read over the contract quickly again, finding what she wanted, signed it and handed it back. Marguerite, apparently trusting the older, if slightly odder girl, did the same.  
  
The girls collected their papers and with a wave the minister dismissed them and turned to check the Australians.  
  
"Wait," Lucy said, "Don't you need to see ID? I mean, I'm 16, don't you want to see ID?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Please, can't I at least SHOW you the ID?"  
  
"Lucy…."  
  
"Yes'm." Lucy sighed and left the table.  
  
"Where do we go now?" Marguerite asked, looking around.  
  
"To the carriages I guess- wait! No, no no no. You have to go to the boats, where's Hagrid? Come on!"  
  
She dragged the girl by the arm towards the lake, sighing with relief when she saw the little fleet was still at the dock.  
  
"Hagrid! I've got another one for you, hold up a minute!" They came flying down the walkway and Lucy practically thrust the small girl into his arms.  
  
"Lucy? Well, well, didn't expect ta see ya here."  
  
"I'm like a bad penny, I always turn up. Anyway, this is Marguerite Ducasse."  
  
Hagrid smiled down at the younger girl. "Welcome to Hogwarts, Marguerite. Don' worry, even if I hadn't a had ye on my list here, this young feller refused to get into a boat until someone made sure ye found yer way over here." He gestured to Chester P. Parker standing on the dock behind him, who blushed and shrugged.  
  
"Had ta get yer papers checked, huh? Bloody foolish business, an idiot that Fudge… well now listen ta me talk. Yer gonna miss yer carriage Lucy, don' worry, we'll take care a the little miss here, go on."  
  
Marguerite and Parker got into a boat and waved as Lucy gave them a wink and dashed back up to the carriages, sprinting the last couple of yards and swinging up into the very last one, plopping herself down on the seat across from a pair of startled Slytherins who stared at her and continued to do so for the entire ride to the castle.  
  
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Lucy was relieved that for the first time she entered the hall and no one stared. It was nice not to be a novelty, and in her black robes she looked just like any other student, only a pointed look from Professor McGonagall gave the least sign that anyone noticed her robes were not exactly Hogwarts design.  
  
She had been in the last carriage, so the hall was practically full as she and the few stragglers made their way to the tables. She blew a kiss at the Slytherin boys she had ridden up with, who promptly were given probing looks by their house mates, which made her chuckle inwardly as she found an empty spot near the end of the Gryffindor table and sat down. She thought she could make out a bunch of the sixth years towards the other end, but at that moment the first years were being brought in and no one was paying the least amount of attention to her.  
  
Lucy had never seen a sorting before, so she was absolutely enthralled, and smiled with fond remembrance at how happy she had been to find something that could talk in your head. They had been having quite an interesting conversation before Professor McGonagall had chastised them. The first years really did look tiny, and to her surprise it seemed that tiny Marguerite was the one calming Parker this time, as well as a girl with short dark hair next to her.  
  
In the next few moments Gryffindor got its first first year of the year, Belle Bedford, and immediately following Slytherin go it's second first year, after 'Armstrong, Alison,' with 'Bedford, Brady.' Belle hadn't yet walked toward the Gryffindor table, poor thing had obviously been expecting her brother to be put in the same house, and she looked positively stricken at being separated from him. The boy, an inch taller than his twin sister, gave her a smile and wink, and personally walked her over to the Gryffindor table.  
  
"Don't get into too much trouble without me," he teased.  
  
"Oh, right, this from the person who set fire to Grandmama's living room."  
  
"Don't pretend you weren't there. I'll see you soon."  
  
The auburn haired boy gave his sister a hug before heading across the hall to the Slytherin table, where he was met with handshakes and smiles.  
  
Makes a person wonder… Lucy thought, but she looked up as "Ducasse, Marguerite," was announced.  
  
Marguerite practically had to hop to get on the stool, the hat covering her head completely, but she didn't look scared. A few seconds later she was placed in Ravenclaw, and Lucy felt a tinge of disappointment that she hadn't been made a Gryffindor.  
  
The rest of the sorting went as usual, or as she supposed was usual. Belle Brady finally found her tongue and wouldn't stop asking questions, so Lucy almost missed the grimace on Parker's face as "Parker, Chester," was read out loud.  
  
"Poor Parker, " she smiled. Chester ended up in Hufflepuff, which, Lucy thought, was rather a nice fit for the caring little boy, although, like Marguerite, she wished he was with her instead. She had taken an immediate liking to the pair, and promised herself that despite the house separation, she would look after them all the same.  
  
After "Zigmund, Zachariah," was made a Slytherin, and the end of Gryffindor table as well as every other was crammed with small children with wide eyes, the hat was taken away and Dumbledore stood.  
  
"Welcome to another year. I would like to inspire you all with these few words, strabler, bismintide, whelquoin. Enjoy your meal."  
  
Puzzling stares ended as food appeared and they all dug in. Lucy, who had either been eating hospital food, or worse, her own cooking, all summer, was particularly grateful. It seemed no time at all before they were all stuffed beyond capacity, and the headmaster got up again.  
  
"And now, before we retire, the school song!" This was met with equal amounts of cheers and groans. "Everyone pick yourself a tune and here we go!"  
  
Hermione had tried to teach Lucy last year, but she followed the glowing gold words on the ceiling, singing the school anthem to the 'God Bless America' and thoroughly enjoying herself every minute of the time. She then set off with the mob to find the Gryffindor common room, and, more importantly, her bed.  
  
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"The password this year is 'fewmets'" Hermione said clearly outside the portrait hole as she ushered the first years inside. There were groans and shouts of, 'that's a horrible password!' and 'let's make it 'Slytherin's play Quidditch like drunken gnomes!'', but she ignored them, and Lucy gave her a wink as she passed her on her way inside.  
  
She headed straight for her room, and was greeted by a shriek from Lavender and a painful hug from Parvati.  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
"We didn't think you were coming back!"  
  
"I seem to be getting a lot of that lately."  
  
In the next second the door burst open and Hermione gave her a less painful, but not less joyful greeting of her own.  
  
"You look great." They said at the same time.  
  
"We visited my mother's friends in Greece for a month."  
  
"I spent five weeks doing repairs in the punishing sun, but at least we both got great tans."  
  
"By the way, how did the," Hermione looked at Parvati and Lavender, "the OTHER job go?"  
  
"It went. Nothing miraculous, but it was good."  
  
Hermione nodded. "Neville didn't look any different, I was afraid maybe you couldn't do anything after all."  
  
Lucy shook her head. "No, I could do some stuff, but in any case, Neville's tougher than he looks in that department." She kept her voice low, than smacked herself in the head. "I forgot! I meant to ask him about his August visit! They don't exactly know how to use the ordinary mail service, so they were gonna give Neville my paycheck and the end of the month reports, if I don't deposit that soon I think I'll be cursed by goblins… I'll be right back!"  
  
She dashed out of the room and down the stairs, then up the boys stairs, bursting into one room only to realize it was the wrong one, the guys were in sixth year now, and like the girls, had rooms higher in the tower. She apologized to the startled fifth years and ran up to the next door and knocked.  
  
Seamus answered the door.  
  
He looked at her, blinked, rubbed his eyes, and stared at her again.  
  
"Lucy?"  
  
Hmmm, she thought, I guess Hermione never got in touch with him….  
  
"Um, surprise?"  
  
Seamus's face broke into an ear to ear grin as he let out an "Ha!", picked her up and swung her around.  
  
"I can't believe it! Why didn't you tell me?"  
  
"I tried, but you were being such a goose about hiding on the last day I couldn't find you. And Hermione tried to write you, but you weren't at home!"  
  
  
  
He set her down and ran a hand through his hair. "I guess I didn't make it very easy to find me." Her held her out at arms distance and then hugged her again. "God its good to see you."  
  
Lucy hugged him back. "Same here."  
  
Up until the last week or so of school, Lucy's future at Hogwarts seemed non-existent. Due to certain events, the Circle of Western Mages, with which Espiritu had been affiliated, had withdrawn their support of sending Lucy to an Eastern school. Without that scholarship and without Espiritu, she would never be able to afford the tuition. It had not been until out of the blue Dumbledore informed her she could pay for her tuition and supplies through a work study program with the Ministry that coming back for sixth year had become a possibility.  
  
"Seamus? What's the yelling? What's going on?" Harry's voice came from inside.  
  
"I need to see Neville," she answered the question before he asked it, and he raised his eyebrows and opened the door.  
  
Harry, Ron, Dean, and Neville looked up from their unpacking. Dean waved with one hand while searching through his trunk with the other, Neville stopped folding his shirts and grinned, Harry stepped over the pile of clothes and started to walk towards her, and Ron just rolled his eyes to the ceiling and muttered, 'here we go again.'  
  
Harry gave her a quick hug and Lucy gave him a peck on the cheek. "Good to see you again Lucy."  
  
Lucy smiled, "Good to see you too Harry, have a nice summer?"  
  
Harry grimaced, "Not exactly the word I would use to describe it. The last three weeks were good though." He added hastily at Ron's look.  
  
"And how about you Mr. Weasley? Have a nice holiday?"  
  
"Yes, thank you. And you? Spend a good deal of time stirring up minature tornados or giving other people's brothers convenient candy-coated torture devices did you?" If it hadn't been for the smile in his eyes Lucy would really have believe he was mad at her. But she had something of an uneasy truce with Ron, and so long as Harry and Hermione stayed healthy and hearty, it should remain a truce.  
  
"Oh, I didn't get to do so much of that as I would have liked, but I managed to amuse myself. Hey Neville, did they give-"  
  
Neville held up a large flat package wrapped in parchment and string. "Grandmother triple checked to remember that I brought it. There's a couple of letters in their two from some of the staff, they just have questions about the methods and stuff I think, nothing that needs urgent replies." He went to toss it but Lucy quickly reached out and took it, knowing with Neville it might go out the window.  
  
"Thanks." With that she left the room winking at Seamus as she headed back down the stairs. "See you in class."  
  
Seamus grinned and shook his head. "This is going to be an interesting year."  
  
Lucy returned to her room and began to unpack, tossing clothes onto the bed and sending shoes flying. As she shook out a sweather, something heavy flew out and landed on the floor next to Hermione's bed with a clang. Hermione stooped down and picked up the flat piece of metal, staring at Lucy.  
  
"Lucy, what is this?"  
  
Lucy looked up, then her eyes grew wide and she grinned. "Oh that! I completely forgot!"  
  
She extended her hand toward Hermione and the plate flew out of her grasp an into Lucy's. She fumbled about for her wand, and tapped it on the gray metal back, muttering "affixirimus", she then stood at the end of her bed and used her mind to raise the plate, turn it over, and send it flying to the wall above the nightstand, where it touched and affixed itself to instantly. Hermione squinted a bit, and then smiled.  
  
It was a yellow license plate that read BIG B, with a small Indian sun separating the "Big" from the "B", underneath which could be read "New Mexico USA", and under that, in italic letters, "Land of Enchantment."  
  
Hermione, Lavender and Parvati waited for an explanation, Lucy was digging around for her wallet.  
  
"Here, look!"  
  
She held out a card with her picture on it, Lavender and Parvati looked blankly, Hermione smiled. "It's a drivers license you two, it means she can drive a car… oh never mind. Congratulations Lucy."  
  
Lucy grinned, "I only had to take the test twice!"  
  
"So why do you have that?" Hermione indicated the license plate hanging on the wall.  
  
Lucy grinned, walking over to the plate and running her fingers over the raised letters.  
  
"This, " she said reverently, "is all that is left of Big Bertha."  
  
"Who's Big Bertha."  
  
Lucy dropped her mock seriousness and grinned devilishly. "Was Big Bertha. And she was Carlos Rimerez's 1979 pick up truck!"  
  
"Lucy…what did you do?"  
  
Lucy grinned, "We crashed it in the desert near the Arizona/ New Mexico State Border."  
  
"We?"  
  
"Yeah, me, Diego, and Carlos's little brother Eddie, well not so little, he's 19…."  
  
"Wasn't he mad?"  
  
"Hell, he taught me to drive. I think deep down he was kinda proud. Anyway, he was planning on getting a new one before the end of the summer, or he never would have let us take it. Besides, I've never hitchhiked before, getting home was kind of fun…."  
  
"Hold on, Diego's alive? And why were you in Arizona?"  
  
Lucy grinned. "Yes, he's alive, that's kinda a long story, and Eddie enlisted last spring and was being sent off to basic training the next week, so we thought we'd take a little road trip. We fully intended to turn around if we hit the Mexican border or the Pacific Ocean."  
  
Hermione shook her head as she climbed into bed. "Well, I hope you got all of that out of your system over the summer Lucy. I was kind of hoping for a nice quiet year."  
  
Lucy snorted as she grabbed a small blue velvet bag and began tossing handfuls of what appeared to be nothing into the air above her bed. "Hermione, from what I've hear, with you and your friends there is no such thing as a nice quiet year."  
  
She didn't hear Hermione's reply as she shut her curtains and laid down on top of her covers, her hands folded behind her head, and stared at the multitudes of tiny stars that twinkled down at her from the ceiling.  
  
  
  
  
  
***Me talking. So, I didn't plan on starting this so soon, I was going to let the thing rest, and despite the really nice people who wanted to hear about Lucy's next year at Hogwarts, I was kind of intimidated by the multitudes of people who seem to really HATE Americans, and I mean hate when I say it. And, you know, at a time when the Texas Guard is patrolling the airport with really big rifles and I can't bring a nail file on an airplane, I really didn't think I ought to spend my time posting something that, despite the few people who write nice constructive things, was only going to get me nasty messages that I have to get taken off based not on how I write, but on the nationality of my character. I have enough to worry about as it is, thank you very much.  
  
I think the flame that broke the camel's back, so to speak, wasn't for my story at all, it was not a flame, but a review I read complementing one of those "How to kill a Mary Sue" list of evil things, (and I did agree with most of the stuff in the piece itself, teeheehee), however, the comment: "Why are there always American axchange students coming to England? We finally have something of our own and Americans are still tyring to get in on it! (sorry if you're american)" (I left in the spelling errors and the blatant un-capitalizing of American , they amused me, although I know I do that all the time, sorry!)  
  
Um, yeah, where to start on that one… So, this er, fine upstanding authoress, a Miss Mambo-Bambo I believe, seems to be implying that, since Hogwarts is set in England, Americans have no right to "get in on it," now that either means we writers have no right to be writing about a school in England, because we all know that Hogwarts is real and that only the British authors who have been there have the knowledge required to write about it accurately, or she is suggesting that because Hogwarts is a British school, American students have no business coming there, but French, Australian, Italian, basically anyone but Americans are welcome and they will run and get the Sorting Hat right away! So basically it is a choice between Americans being ill qualified to write about a book because the author and setting are British, or simple cut and dry bigotry. My we are an enlightened bunch.  
  
So, I think we can rule out the first hypothesis (I'm a bio major, can't help it), since, unless some of these British authors are in serious need of therapy, none have them have come any closer to Hogwarts than those of us across the pond. (Although we can still envy them their affinity to Ozzy Osborne, Def Leppard, and Pink Floyd.) And as for the second hyphothesis, out and out bigotry, well there seems to be an overabundance of that lately, in every country including my own, and I guess all we can do is wait and pray. And, to be honest, it still surprises me how much writing an American character is criticized, since one of the cardinal rules of writing is 'write what you know.' Well, obviously an American is going to know a damn sight more about writing a kid from the Bronx or New Jersey than they would about someone from Dorset or Manchester. The shouldn't feel pressured to handicap themselves just so they can fit in the tired and true model of what some people find appealing.  
  
So, since this is almost a page long, but I can do that since this is my own story and writing it once is easier than e-mailing it to the dozens of people who like to Yankee-bash, I'd better wrap it up. So in short, to anyone, and particularly my American brethren, write whatever the hell you want. Write a bad fic, I mean a really, really bad fic, and make the character the American long lost sister of Harry whom Draco is madly in love with and turns Snape into a puppy dog for all I care, if YOU enjoy, then do it. More often then not no one reviews these things anyway. I know that I write Lucy Montero and Diego Alvarez, Maggie O'Rourke and Aidan Murphy for me, and just for me. I like 'em. Sometimes I want to smack 'em, but I like 'em. So go ahead, despite what some people may want us to think, over here at least its still a free country. Don't let the man get you down.*** 


	2. Chapter Two: Another Brick in the Wall

Chapter Two: Another Brick in the Wall  
  
  
  
Lucy got up early the next morning, far earlier than she needed to be to make it to breakfast. As soon as she was washed and dressed she left Gryffindor tower and struck out on a rather bizarre route, down branching corridors, slipping through hidden halls accessed only by lifting tapestries or pushing stones, until she found herself in a little used hallway, standing under a positively mournful looking tapestry that ran along near the ceiling. It didn't look like it had been moved in the past three months, but she wanted to make sure. So, using the hovering ability she had been trained to develop since childhood, she raised herself about seven feet above the floor, and gingerly pulled the fabric aside. The entrance was there. She maneuvered herself into a tall, narrow, coffin like space and stepped onto the floor. Behind her a stone slid back into place, blocking her exit. She hovered about half an inch off the floor, and in front of her another panel slid open, and Lucy found her way into a room that no one else in the castle, with the probable exception of Dumbledore, knew about.  
  
This had been the workroom of Don Asriel, the only other Espiritu to ever come to Hogwarts, but who had been dead for over a hundred years.  
  
She didn't have time for more than a quick perusal, but it seemed that what had been a secret for so long had remained a secret, which was all that she cared about. She had a bad feeling that the people who destroyed her home and those of so many others last year would do far worse to get their hands on what was in that room.  
  
She reset the guards and made her way down to breakfast, throwing a wink at Marguerite and Parker. They may have been in two different houses, but the Ravenclaw table was next to the Hufflepuff's, and the two first years had positioned themselves on the innermost set of benches, so they were still able to carry on multiple conversations with their house mates and each other.  
  
She slid into a spot between Dean and Seamus, opposite Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Ron looked awful, and his food was untouched.  
  
"He sick or somfin?" She gestured with her fork toward Ron, her mouth full of toast.  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes and grimaced. "Quidditch tryouts this afternoon."  
  
"So soon?"  
  
Harry shook his head. "Slytherin has the field booked almost all week for practice, this is the only time we could get if we wanted to be able to train enough. We lost almost half the team with last years graduating class."  
  
Lucy and Ron were not what you would exactly call friends, but she had gone through a try out of sorts herself last year, to advance out of intermediate status in the eastern Circle, and she knew what nerves the poor guy was going through.  
  
"You ought to eat. If you do get sick then you'll be dry heaving, pop a blood vessel in your eye, then you'll really look scary."  
  
Seamus made a face and put down the bite of eggs he was about to enjoy. "Oh, thanks Lucy. I really, really wanted to hear that. Now I'm likely to get just as sick as him!"  
  
Ron turned green. Lucy turned to Seamus. "You?"  
  
Seamus grinned. "Are you kidding? With all those spaces open? Between Fred, George, Katie and Angelina graduating, and with Lux's family moving back her and her brother back to Sydney, there's never been better odds."  
  
Lavender and Parvati, who were on the other side of Seamus, looked at each other and groaned. "We are never going to have another breakfast conversation that doesn't involve Quidditch ever again."  
  
Hermione grumbled, "Like we get much of anything else now."  
  
Lucy chose to each her melon, the boys just gave each other the, 'Girls just don't understand,' look, and turned back to their meals. Well, all except Ron that is.  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&  
  
Lucy's first class of the day was Ancient Runes. But, as was a general rule, first classes of the year really didn't count, unless you were in Transfiguration or Potions, and all Professor Nostrad did was review the areas studied last year and briefly describe what was going to be covered in the next. Which was a good thing, since Lucy was in such knots over what she had to do next that she couldn't focus on much of anything.  
  
It had come that summer, along with the traditional Hogwarts letter detailing the supplies and books she would need for the next year; not that that was a large help seeing as she was home in New Mexico at the time, fortunately she had bought most of what she would need earlier in the summer before returning home.  
  
It had been a letter within the letter, from some obscure department within the Ministry that handled her work scholarship that had made her so nervous. Something about her contract being open, and a necessary meeting with the headmaster scheduled today, right after Ancient Runes, as a note on her schedule reminded her.  
  
She reluctantly got to her feet and told Dean, the only other Gryffindor sixth year in the class, that she would see him at lunch, then made her way reluctantly toward Dumbledore's office.  
  
She had spent WAY too much time there last year, and for pretty much all the wrong reasons. Except for the time she almost killed the Potions Master, then the tirade, as well as the punishment of being forced into Sixth Year Potions, with Sixth Year Slytherins and Gryffindors, had been well worth it.  
  
Albus Dumbledore didn't look any different than he had at the beginning of the summer, still incredibly ancient. He was sitting at his desk and motioned for her to take a seat. Lucy would much rather have stood, or not have been there at all, but she did as she was told; it was the first day after all.  
  
"Have a good summer, Miss Montero?"  
  
Lucy nodded, not sure what to say.  
  
Dumbledore nodded, "Good, good. The reason you need to see me today Lucy is that the Ministry has a request. Now, they have actually made it of me, but I thought you might want to here it."  
  
Lucy waited for him to go on.  
  
"They have requested that any student found to posses any… western capabilities be trained in them as soon as possible."  
  
Lucy almost choked on her gum.  
  
"They want what?"  
  
"Just what I said Lucy. After the event of last year, with those servants of the Dark Lord reaching so close to Hogwarts, they have decided it would be wise if we also began to develop any potential… resources we might need."  
  
Resources, Lucy thought to herself, sure, they aren't gifts or abilities, but wild freakish resources that will be looked down on whenever this thing is over. Over… that's when she remembered.  
  
She looked Dumbledore straight in the eye. "I wasn't aware you were practicing."  
  
"I'm not."  
  
"So who is going to teach these students, if there are any."  
  
"I was hoping you might."  
  
Lucy had been expecting it. "What do I get?"  
  
Dumbledore looked a but taken aback. "I beg your pardon?"  
  
"What do I get, for teaching a bunch of Hogwarts kids whose parents probably won't want it made public what they are doing anyway, because its just barbarian magic in the first place. What do I get?"  
  
"Well, naturally you will get some independent course study credit."  
  
"A contract."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I want a contract signed, here and now that promises that any information, I don't care how tiny, that might, possibly affect the people of my Circle, gets passed on to them. Immediately, and without question or censure."  
  
"Lucy, that isn't possible. You have to understand what is at stake."  
  
"Frankly, headmaster, I couldn't care less. Unless you can come up with a better arrangement, or get yourself a different teacher, the only way western magic is being taught in this school is if the people of THIS world start treating us like human beings. And that starts with letting us defend our homes."  
  
The headmaster's eyes, normally warm and soft, were heated and sharp.  
  
"Lucy, I fully understand your feelings on this matter. But I will not jeopardize the life of a valued colleague and friend, his position is too important; you have to see that. Your people have protections of their own."  
  
"Oh yes, and they worked so well against attacks from a world we don't fully comprehend. Listen, even if I wanted to, I'm sure that after last year, and what happened sixteen years ago, the Circle won't be too eager to start collaborating with the eastern world any time soon. And I won't jeopardize my standing with them, they are the only people I can trust anymore, and they never break their word."  
  
"The Ministry of Magic has never broken its word to Espiritu or any other of the schools in the Circle."  
  
"Who killed Paulo?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Which were the Death Eaters that caused the plane carrying Ministry Workers and two Espiritu Adepts to crash into the ocean, killing everyone, including the pilots."  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"The Ministry promised to investigate, and they never did. For all I know the guilty parties are still roaming about free. And since I have a bit of a personal stake in that little event, I think I have cause to be a little angry at the Ministry for not keeping its word."  
  
"And you think that justifies not helping in a project that could lead to the end of all this and finally bring those accountable to justice?"  
  
"Judging from what happened the last time people from around here got their hands on eastern magic, let me think, yes!"  
  
"That's enough Lucy."  
  
She stared back at the headmaster, who stared right back at her.  
  
"I thought you would be enlightened enough to see past your own interests toward the greater good."  
  
And I thought, she mused, that you would finally understand that I am not in this for the greater good, or for some stupid battle that maybe you think I'm destined to fight. I don't believe in that, any of it. I believe in me and Diego and the rock that Espiritu is made of, and to hell with the rest of it. They don't matter.  
  
She hadn't spoken yet, and the headmaster turned back to his parchment and waved her away with his hand.  
  
"You may go now, Lucy."  
  
She set her jaw, grabbed her satchel from the floor, and left.  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&  
  
It didn't help that Potions was her afternoon class that day.  
  
Professor Snape gave her the same sneer he seemed to reserve for all Gryffindors, and Lucy sat under it unflinching. It was because of Snape's currant position as a spy among the servants of the Dark Lord that Lucy was alive; he had warned Dumbledore at the moment of the attack that Lucy might feel some 'residual effects.' Those effects had nearly killed her. What she had not learned until later was that Snape had known of the attack on her school for over two weeks, and no one had bothered to warn Espiritu. She had lost her entire family, and Dumbledore and the rest of his spies still did not plan to inform any other Western schools if they were about to come under attack. Lucy blamed Snape for the loss of her family and the deaths of the twelve fresh additions to the Espiritu graveyard she had found when she came home over the summer. She would hate him for the rest of her life, and saw no reason to pretend otherwise.  
  
She had, however, not to bait a bear in its den, so to speak. The last time she had acted up in Snape's class she'd been forced to take a double load of potions, and she didn't intent to repeat the experience. She slipped calmly into her seat next to Lavender and Parvati, in front of Dean and Seamus, and across from Draco Malfoy and Vincent Crabbe. The silvery blond boy gave her a sneer and pretended to sniff.  
  
"Ouff? What smells? Do you smell something Crabbe? What is that unpleasant aroma?"  
  
Crabbe grinned and joined in, at which Lucy stuck out her chin, leaned her head on her hand, and began to sing softly. "Born in the USA, I was, born in the USA… Born in the USA"  
  
Crabbe's ears turned a bright shade of pink, and anyone who had been there to witness the spectacle at King's Cross last year couldn't help but start giggling, even the Slytherins.  
  
Which was when Snape slammed his textbook down, gave Lucy a stare that would have withered flowers, and began his lecture.  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&  
  
"You actually said no?"  
  
"Shouted no would be closer to the truth."  
  
"At the headmaster?"  
  
"Oh, don't scold me Seamus. I know I should have kept my temper but every time I think of that slimy, scaly, piss poor excuse for a human being…."  
  
"Tell me you're talking about Snape, because if you're talking about Dumbledore…"  
  
"I thought Dumbledore would understand!"  
  
"He didn't?"  
  
"He was asking more than was possible."  
  
"Was he?"  
  
Lucy stopped her pacing around the common room and stared at the tall boy where he sat in a chair, trimming errant twigs from his broomstick. Tryouts were in half an hour.  
  
"You think I should have said yes too, don't you? Hermione gave me the same look…"  
  
Seamus got to his feet, setting the broom gently down before crossing towards her quickly.  
  
"Don't get up on your high horse with me Montero. I just think that you aren't looking at this straight. I mean, Dumbledore, he offered you what you wanted, didn't he? You wanted eastern and western magic to be less distant. Well, here's your chance. You tell them the truth about what your world is like, it's the first step."  
  
Lucy didn't answer him. She was in a mood to be sullen and angry, not a mood to be reasonable and cooperative. But, she sighed, that wasn't Seamus's fault. She turned and looked out the window, people with brooms slung over their shoulders were starting to make their way back towards the castle.  
  
"The Hufflepuff tryouts are over, you'd better get out there, you wanted to get a good warm up, remember?"  
  
She heard him sigh behind her, and she swore she could hear him nervously running his fingers through his hair. She mentally kicked herself, she had forgotten he was bound to be tied up in knots as it was.  
  
Relenting she turned around and forced a smile, he knew it was forced, but that didn't bother him. She walked over and stood on a coffee table to give him a big hug, then turned him by the shoulders and shoved him towards the door.  
  
"Go on, knock 'em dead."  
  
Seamus shuddered, "Lucy, for future reference, when someone is going out to a field full of Bludgers and clubs, don't ever use that phrase again."  
  
She shrugged, "I didn't mean YOU."  
  
He shook his head, grabbed his broom, and headed out the portrait hole.  
  
Lucy said a quick prayer for the sixth years trying out, and for Harry. He had renounced his privilege as co-captain to make the final decision as regarded new team members, citing that too many of his close friends were perspectives this year to make him as impartial as he should be. Ron hadn't understood that at first, but Hermione had made good and sure he did and that he supported Harry in it, Lucy had heard them from the other end of the table at lunch that afternoon. The decision was now passed on to a vote by senior team members.  
  
She didn't want to watch, not really. She knew with Seamus up there she'd be terribly nervous. He'd already told her she didn't have to come, but something in the way he had said it made her feel certain that he wanted her there anyway. So she sighed, shoved her wand in her pocket, and headed out the portrait hole.  
  
Marguerite was standing outside.  
  
"Marguerite? What are you doing here, are you all right?"  
  
The tiny girl nodded.  
  
"How did you find this place?"  
  
She shrugged, "I just followed the Gryfindors. I didn't hear the password though, I just figured you'd all come out for the Quidditch trials, and waited here."  
  
Lucy nodded, noting at the same time how the girl kept shifting her weight from one foot to the other.  
  
"Is something wrong chica? You look nervous."  
  
Marguerite nodded.  
  
"Well…."  
  
"It's not me, its Che- Parker."  
  
"What's wrong with him?"  
  
She shrugged. "I don't know, but something is up. He said he'd meet me and we'd go watch the Hufflepuff's tryout together, but he never showed up. And I know we all just met but that-"  
  
"Doesn't seem like Parker, you're right." She was an observant kid, Lucy thought. And standing a new friend up, especially when that new friend was the first friend he had made at Hogwarts, was decidedly unlike the little boy who had refused to get into a boat until Marguerite was found.  
  
Marguerite was looking up at her, waiting for her to tell her what to do.  
  
"Well," Lucy sighed, "I guess the only thing to do is to go find him, huh?"  
  
"How are we going to do that?"  
  
"I suppose we ought to start with the common room. Have you been there yet?'  
  
Marguerite shook her head. "No one to follow, they were all out at the pitch."  
  
"Right. Well, there should be plenty to follow now, so lead the way."  
  
And so she followed the pixie like blond child, who headed towards the more heavily trafficked hallways, until she spied a stream of students with brooms and Hufflepuff badges on their robes. They casually made their way into the river of bustling adolescents and followed them on a winding course through the halls and up staircases. They were ona stairway lined with old portraits when the whole mess of students turned to the left, toward the wall, pushing aside a tapestry and going through. Lucy and Marguerite followed, and emerged in the middle of a long, wide corridor Lucy had never been in. There were no doors off of it, just lots of paintings, and an enormous fireplace in the opposite wall. As Lucy watched, the first of the students approached the fireplace and said something Lucy couldn't make out. At that moment the physically moved aside, and one by one students disappeared into the space behind it. As the two Gryfindors approached, they could see that a stone had swung back in the back wall of the fireplace, and you could see through it into a warm and well lit common room. Marguerite made to go in, but Lucy held her back, instead approaching a girl who looked to be a year or so younger than herself who was about to go in.  
  
"Excuse me."  
  
The girl looked up, then looked at both of them carefully, her eyes not missing the Gryfindor badges.  
  
"Oh, hello. Waiting for someone are you?"  
  
"Not exactly, um, you don't by any chance know a boy named Parker- er Chester P. Parker?"  
  
The girl rolled her eyes. "The first year? Yeah, I know him, everyone does, been crying all afternoon. My friend, he's a prefect, missed half the trials trying to calm him down. Does he know you're here?"  
  
Lucy shook her head. "Do you know where he is?"  
  
The girl nodded, "Unless, by some miracle, he's stopped, he'll be on the roof."  
  
"The roof?" Squeaked Marguerite, speaking for the first time.  
  
The Hufflepuff grinned. "You've never been up there? Come on, I'll take you, we'll sure as hell never get him to come out here at any rate."  
  
Lucy looked at Marguerite, who shrugged, and the girls walked through the fireplace and into the common room, the stone sliding back after them, and Lucy could hear the flames return to their previous position.  
  
The Hufflepuff common room looked a lot like the Gryffindor common room, in that it was full of students and chairs, sofas and tables, although she did notice that there were an unusual amount of fireplaces. Their new friend steered them toward a small, tight, circle staircase made of stone in the middle of the room. There were sofas all around the bottom of it, it seemed a popular spot. They followed her up through a hole in the ceiling.  
  
And emerged on the roof. Well, basically the roof, there was a glass ceiling above them, through which Lucy could make out the grounds on the that side of the castle, and the Quidditch pitch off in the distance. The place was full of gardens, like a giant greenhouse, but also covered in benches, with blankets stacked near them, a number of them shielded from view by groupings of trellises covered in flowers and ivy.  
  
Marguerite could not keep herself from walking with her head thrown back to look at the sky.  
  
The Hufflepuff girl laughed. "It's one way glass. From the outside, it looks just like any other part of the roof, powerful strong, too, gets plenty of snow on it. Every winter, it's the first years job to go clean the snow off of it, gets downright eerie out here when its all covered. Very neat in the rain."  
  
"You send them out on the real roof?"  
  
"Oh don't look at me like that! It's great, I volunteered for snow duty my second year so I could do it again. Hufflepuff has a set of old brooms, really awful for Quidditch, terribly old, but good enough to send the first years out to either do a melting spell, or sweep the snow off with longer brooms. I prefer sweeping, its lots more fun. You can actually climb about out there normally, this is a pretty flat part of the castle roof, although towards the end the eaves drop off pretty steep. See there,"  
  
She pointed to a set of steps that led right up to the glass.  
  
"Door's right there. First years aren't supposed to climb alone though, not till after the first half of term. We gave them all a tour of the safer routes last night. Don't think Chester'll be out there though, didn't seem too keen on it."  
  
"It's Parker." Marguerite added pointedly.  
  
"Of course. Anyways, that's the Hufflepuff roof. You two must not know too many of us, we love showing it off, never met someone hanging around the entrance that hadn't."  
  
At that point the girl perked her head up and crossed the roof, in between two small garden plots, one of flowers, the other of some strange plant that seemed to be humming, and towards the far corner. Now that they were closer Lucy and Marguerite heard it too, sniffling, coming from behind a thick wall of ivy that seemed to pull off the wall of its own accord and drape like a tent.  
  
"Yup, " clucked the girl, "He's at Helga's."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Helga, Helga Hufflepuff, that's her bench in there. Cushion stone, if I remember correctly, awful soft. Almost all the first years end up crying in there eventually, I did twice. Good luck."  
  
With that she clapped Lucy on the back and made her way back towards the hole in the roof that lead to the common room.  
  
Lucy sighed and pulled the ivy curtain aside, revealing Chester P. Parker, eyes red rimmed and puffy, sitting on a semi-circular stone bench, his knees drawn up to his chin. He looked up at them in surprise.  
  
"Wha—hicup--- what are you doing h-h-here?"  
  
"Looking for you chico, can we join you?"  
  
"Sure," he roughly wiped his eyes with his arm and put his legs down as Lucy and Marguerite took seats on either side of him.  
  
"Nice place you got here," Lucy looked around at the ivy that surrounded them. The only light was what was able to flicker through the curtain. It was like being in an ivy teepee full of holes.  
  
Parker nodded.  
  
Marguerite handed him a handkerchief, with which he blew his nose loudly.  
  
"I waited for you to go watch the Quidditch."  
  
He nodded, "I'm sorry, I meant to come, but then…"  
  
"What happened?"  
  
The mop of black curls shook violently.  
  
"No? Come on, it might make you feel better."  
  
Another shake.  
  
Marguerite sighed.  
  
"Fine, don't tell us, but will you at least come down from here? The girl said you'd been up here all afternoon."  
  
Parker nodded.  
  
They managed to get his face cleaned up, and Lucy led the way as Marguerite helped Parker down the staircase and back to the common room.  
  
"You gonna be ok?" Lucy squatted down to look the youngster in the eye. Chester nodded. Marguerite took a seat next to him.  
  
"Go ahead Lucy, I'm gonna stick around anyway."  
  
Lucy nodded.  
  
"I'll see you two tomorrow."  
  
She made her way back to the fireplace and headed for the quidditch pitch as fast as she could. 


	3. Chapter 3: Well It's Been A Long, Been A...

Chapter Three: Well It's Been A Long, Been A Long, Been A Long, Been A Long Day  
  
Lavender's prediction, if that's what it was, and she liked to think so, came true sure enough. With Ron and Seamus as the new beaters, Harry the seeker, and Dean returning as a chaser, there was talk of nothing but quidditch among the sixth years at the Gryffindor table. The team was rounded out with new chasers Ginny Weasley and Ethan Underwood, with fourth year Emily Orestia as keeper. Harry couldn't stop talking about their great chances, it was the best pool of players they had put together since Wood left, and if the team wasn't as plagued with injuries as they had been in the past year, they'd have this set of players and alternates through next year as well.  
  
"The only real concern is Ginny."  
  
"What?" Scoffed Hermione, "You don't think she can handle it? She's been playing with her brothers since she could hang on to a broom, she's great."  
  
"Not that," Harry shook his head, "I'm worried that the minute one of those Slytherin mammoths sends a Bludger her way Ron is gonna forget all about the game, knock the poor bastard off his broom, and beat him to a bloody pulp."  
  
"You think he has that little self control?"  
  
Lucy snorted. "I sure as hell do. He almost hit ME last year and I hadn't done anything nearly that bad."  
  
Hermione gave her a look, and glanced down the table, where Ron was drawing plays on the table with Dean and Seamus.  
  
Lucy shrugged. "Listen Hermione, he's got a temper to match mine, and that's what I'd do. Slytherins better play smart."  
  
"What about the other houses?"  
  
"I seriously doubt they would put Ginny in enough danger to cause Ron to go off. People only get seriously hurt when play gets dirty, I mean isn't that what happened to us last year?"  
  
Harry rolled his eyes. "We'll try and see how he handles the scrimmages in practice. We just have to get him used to the idea of someone intentionally trying to knock Ginny off her broom, and hopefully he'll be able to see the difference between a normal play and, well, something that's not."  
  
Hermione nodded. "Well, if I know Ginny, she'll be the one to knock it through his skull first. It's one thing to be the protective older brother, but she has six of those, and its another thing to try and keep her from having fun. Getting on the team meant so much to her."  
  
"It'll be an interesting season, that's for sure."  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&  
  
"I didn't mean to yell at you earlier."  
  
"You didn't. And you were just nervous anyhow."  
  
"Still, I mean, it was your decision and-"  
  
"Look, it all turned out for the best, didn't it. I get to go through the year in peace, and you get to fly around in the air and hit large heavy balls at peoples' heads. It's a regular happy ever after."  
  
"Right." Seamus sat down in the chair with a sigh. Lucy was still bothered by her interview with Dumbledore, he could tell. Even if her face wasn't giving it away, his heightened empathetic sense could feel the anxiety rolling off her. It made his head itch. He didn't want to complain, although Lucy was responsible for his empathy channel being open. Maybe that was why he wanted her to rethink the idea of teaching other Hogwarts students ; she'd offered to 'fix' him, but he never regretted his decision to keep his new gift, and he though others would act the same way. Then again, not everyone felt the same way he did about Lucy.  
  
"What is it Lucy?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"You're making my head hurt, so something's wrong, I'm shielded as tight as I know how."  
  
"Oh hell." Lucy paused a moment, getting a wrinkle in the middle of her forehead, and them suddenly he felt her blink out of his mind.  
  
"Better?"  
  
"Much, thanks."  
  
"You didn't work on your shielding over the summer, did you?"  
  
"As a matter of fact, I did. My grandmother was more than happy to help."  
  
"Well then you were just being lazy, I never got through to you last year unless I tried or was really really scared."  
  
"Yeah, I remember that. So what is it?"  
  
"I was thinking about the professor."  
  
"Oh." He didn't say anything, just watched her closely. He knew what professor she meant, her mentor, Professor Antolin de La Vega, her guardian, who had disappeared into the void between the gates along with the rest of her school the previous winter.  
  
Lucy saw the worry on his face and forced a smile. "Don't worry, I'm fine. I was just trying to think what he would have to say about all this… and I'm starting to forget things. I didn't want to forget."  
  
"Forget things?"  
  
"How his voice sounded when he was cross, the wrinkles on his face, his nose…"  
  
Seamus made to get up, but Lucy held up her hand. "Don't, I'm, I'm just going to go to bed. I'll be myself again in the morning." And she hurried up the stairs to the sixth year girls' room before he could say another word.  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&  
  
True to her word, Lucy appeared happy and healthy the next morning at breakfast. Truthfully, however, she had slept anything but well. Part of that was homesickness, and the other part was the lingering doubt she still had about whether or not she was doing the right thing. She didn't tell Seamus or Hermione, however, fearing they might continue to try and convince her. So she tried to put the events of yesterday behind her, and attempted to eat her breakfast without shouting at someone to shut up about the god damn quidditch. She had a feeling that it might not be well received.  
  
Care of Magical Creatures was their first class that morning. The Gryffindors and Slytherins marched out to the area behind Hagrid's, to find the enormous groundskeeper hovering over a box of hay, with several brightly colored objects in it. As they moved closer, they realized what they were, eggs.  
  
"Come roun', come roun', everyone get a nice good look there. Aren't they jus beautiful? "  
  
Hermione raised her eyebrow. "Hagrid, um, where exactly did you get the eggs?"  
  
Hagrid grinned. "Don' worry about that Hermione, got 'em wholesale, markdown in Diagon Ally bout a week ago. They're yer assignments this year."  
  
"What!"  
  
Hagrid dismissed Neville's squeak and spoke up, addressing the whole class.  
  
"Now, its part a yer curriculum that the sixth an seventh year Magical Creatures students have a bit more involvement. Dese eggs are all different, and about all I can tell you is that none of 'em are water animals. It's gonna be yer job ta take care of that egg, keep it in the right sort a conditions till it hatches, be there for the hatching, and take care a the infant till the end of the year. Now step up an I'll distribute 'em."  
  
The students warily formed a line as Hagrid bent over the clutch of eggs, whispering to some of them, and patting them, finding it awfully difficult to let them go. Hermione received a spherical egg, light green with dark green spots. Harry's was white and ovular, but tiny, smaller than a golfball. Ron's, on the other hand, was enourmous, it took both hands to carry; a long egg that looked like an enormous version of an Everyflavor bean, and bright pink, which made Draco Malfoy, with his medium round blue egg snicker and Ron's ears turn pink, but he couldn't slug him because of the egg in his hands. Lavender received an average size but extremely heavy purple egg, with a wink from Hagrid, and Parvati received a black egg that Lucy though looked very much like a small American football without the laces. When she stepped up Hagrid thought a moment, then reached down and handed her an egg roughly twice the size of a normal chicken egg, but this one was bright red, so red that in the sun it was a bit difficult to look at.  
  
"Careful with this one," Hagrid said as he gingerly picked it up and placed it in her hands.  
  
Lucy would have dropped it if he hadn't covered her hands with his. The egg was very, very hot.  
  
"Careful, Lucy." He gave her a steadying look. "Got it now?" Lucy nodded, and Hagrid released her. She immediately sat down and held the egg using the corner of her robes.  
  
Once all the eggs had been distributed Hagrid turned back to the class. "All right now, use yer books to identify what kind a egg you have, ye won't be able to care for it properly until you do. Help each other, come ask me if yer really stuck. By the end of the class ye should all have met with me to make sure yer right. I'll keep the eggs this week, an a week from today ye should have made arrangements for how yer gonna keep yer egg. We'll talk more about that next class. Well, go to it!"  
  
Lucy made her way over to Seamus, who was staring blankly at his yellow egg, which was vibrating so fast it made a humming sound. Seamus had it carefully on the ground next to him. "It tickles."  
  
"At least it doesn't burn."  
  
Lucy carefully held her egg in her wrapped hand and with the other opened the book Hermione had picked up for her in Diagon Ally this summer, their Care of Magical Creatures text, "What to Expect When You're Expecting… a Brandlysnoot: A Comprehensive Guide to Magical Childcare for All Species." Comprehensive was right, the book was huge, she didn't know where to begin.  
  
By the time the end of class came they had settled it that Harry's egg, which he had lost twice during the class, was a Pixie Dragon, something which apparently was like a tiny, scaled, salamander.  
  
"At least its not a Ridgeback," Harry sighed, "Although I've rather had enough of dragons, if you know what I mean."  
  
"It's not a true dragon anyway," Hermione was absorbed in a passage in the text, "that's a misnomer, you can't keep dragons here, this thing is more like an enchanted lizard, it says here-"  
  
"That's enough Hermione, really," Harry rolled his eyes and rolled his egg around in his palm.  
  
"At least it should be pretty easy to care for Harry," Lucy pointed to a paragraph further down in the passage, "It says here all you really need to do is keep it out of bright light, they're nocturnal and prolonged exposure to-"  
  
"I said enough! I'm not a complete moron, you know!"  
  
With that he jumped up and stalked off to Hagrid to check that his egg really was going to turn into a Pixie Dragon.  
  
"What's that all about?" Lucy looked to Hermione for some help. This didn't seem like Harry, he was usually calm.  
  
Hermione sighed and flipped through the book, staring at her egg, "Oh, a bunch of things. The O.W.L.S. came in months ago you know, and well, he did fine but…"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Well, if you can believe it, Ron got one more than he did."  
  
"What?" Lucy looked over to where Ron and Dean were discussing their eggs.  
  
Hermione nodded. "I mean, it's great for Ron, and Harry really isn't that upset, he's not the jealous type, I think it's just kinda strange for him to be in Ron's shoes for once, if you know what Imean."  
  
Lucy nodded. "Is that all?"  
  
Hermione shrugged, "Well, there's the whole Azkaban thing on top of it…"  
  
Lucy gave her a blank look, she knew what Azkaban was, the energy wasteland around the place was legendary, no school could operate withing 100 miles of it, but she had no idea anything had changed, "What about Azkaban?"  
  
Hermione's head came up. "You didn't know?"  
  
"Know what?"  
  
Hermione shoved her hair back roughly with one hand. "Oh, gosh, well, you know, back in our fourth year, Harry said that Dumbledore told Fudge that they needed to take Azkaban out of the control of the dementors, that it would be too easy for the Dark Lord to turn them to his side. Fudge thought it was ridiculous, because he's a twit."  
  
Lucy didn't say anything.  
  
"Well, after last year, when they realized the Dark Lord had already begun to look for…other forms of power, stealing ancient books, trying to tap into the power of the western circle, Fudge decided that they better take steps to secure Azkaban."  
  
"And…"  
  
"And he was turned away."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"He was turned back, the dementors wouldn't let him in, wouldn't let him anywhere near the prison. It was as if he wasn't there. And the Ministry realized that they were too late, that the dementors were no longer working for their side anymore. They've been piling up agents and aurors and all the defense the Ministry can support outside Azkaban all summer, trying to find a way to break in, to wear the dementors down, but, I mean, there really isn't a way to go about that."  
  
Lucy nodded, her face a little pale. "And Harry…"  
  
"Oh, well, we're all worried. But I mean, Snuffles is there, he hasn't been cleared yet though, he's working under some sort of disguise, and so is Professor Lupin, you met him, didn't you, yes I thought so, and the rest of the order, anyway he hasn't heard from them in a while and he's starting to get nervous."  
  
"Oh, well, trust me I know all about that."  
  
Hermione nodded, "I forgot, yeah, you probably do. Well, that's the story with Harry, and with Dumbledore for that matter. Have you noticed he's a little bit-"  
  
"Tense, yeah I have. And that explains a lot actually."  
  
"Good, now, about your egg…"  
  
"It's burning a hole through my robes, what's to know?"  
  
"Hmm, red, hot….. got it! It's a phoenix!"  
  
"A WHAT?"  
  
"A phoenix. When it is full grown it will periodically burst into flames and be reborn from the ashes. Of course, they still have to reproduce by egg, or there wouldn't be any more phoenixes. Ouch, the egg will increase in temperature by ten degrees a month until the whole things bursts into flame and the chick, which develops inside an inner shell, is all that remains."  
  
Hermione gave her a look and turned the book so she could see. "You are most definitely NOT keeping that thing in the closet."  
  
Lucy groaned. "Gee, thanks a metric ton Hagrid, give me the fire trap baby. What's yours Hermione?"  
  
"Um, I'm pretty sure it's a gryphon of some sort."  
  
"Aren't they really big?"  
  
"Mmmhmmm, although, their eggs start out small and grow to be a little bigger than a quaffle. Yikes, looks like I can't keep it in the closet either."  
  
"Well, the amazing expanding gryphon and my toasty little friend will just have to find a place of their own."  
  
Hermione sighed, "I guess so, but somewhere we can keep an eye on them, I don't want yours consuming mine in its fireball."  
  
"Fireball, you didn't say it was a fireball."  
  
"It's a phoenix Lucy…"  
  
"Yeah, but I thought a little puff and some smoke, and you're saying-"  
  
"All right! Come on, bring 'em back now! You'll get lots a time with the little suckers later, one at a time now…"  
  
Hermione got up and returned her gryphon to Hagrid before Lucy could pester her any further. Lucy sighed and got in line.  
  
**So what did you get?**  
  
She almost jumped, then she realized the voice in her head was Seamus. He was fuzzy, but much better than he had been before the summer.  
  
**A phoenix. Leave it to me to get the only egg that could kill me before, during, and after it hatches.**  
  
**Consider yourself lucky. I got a bandersnatch.**  
  
**What's that?**  
  
**Apparently it's a highly unpleasant little thing that looks like a purple monkey and bites the very first thing it lays eyes one.**  
  
**Which is going to be you.**  
  
**IF it survives to hatch. The damn thing never stops vibrating, it just rattles out of whatever I put it in. I never thought I'd be in danger of failing Care of Magical Creatures.**  
  
Lucy turned around to grin at him, when she was stopped by a Slytherin standing right behind her, giving her the strangest look she had ever seen.  
  
"Well what is it?" Lucy said as she handed her egg to Hagrid and stepped away.  
  
"Who were you talking to?" The girl stared at her intensely.  
  
"What?"  
  
But by then Pansy had gone through and was pulling the girl away with the rest of the Slytherin girls towards the castle, leaving Lucy speechless.  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&  
  
"And you really think she heard you?"  
  
"Yes! She asked me who I was talking to, and I wasn't saying anything out loud, I was talking to you."  
  
"Could she hear me?"  
  
"I don't know, maybe not, maybe you aren't strong enough yet to… I was broadsending. You weren't, you don't know how, you just send to me, but I was lazy and I was just broadsending, not thinking anyone else could hear. But she can, I'm telling you, that Slytherin girl can Hear!"  
  
"Calm down, will you? Or do you want the whole world to know?"  
  
Lucy groaned and flopped down on the nearest couch.  
  
"Well I didn't see that one coming."  
  
"Me neither. Listen, it could be a fluke, a strange coincidence, or something. Don't go doing anything rash until you know for sure, ok?"  
  
"Me? Do something rash? When have I ever done something rash?"  
  
Seamus just looked at her and raised one eyebrow.  
  
"Ok, fine, fine, fine, nothing rash. But, um, we're gonna have to suspend the practice sessions until I can make sure no one else is spying on us. Ok?"  
  
"Fine by me, quidditch is taking up most of my time anyway. And speaking of quiddtch…"  
  
"Go, go, go. Have fun getting pelted by nasty little balls, I will stay behind and deal with the crisis at hand."  
  
"Right. Have a good afternoon Lucy."  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&  
  
Clip, clip, clip.  
  
Lucy stopped, nothing, she started walking again.  
  
Clip, clip, clip.  
  
This had been the third time, now she was certain of it, someone was behind her. And seeing as she was in a passage well off the regular route of any classroom, that someone was probably following HER.  
  
She took the nearest entrance off the tunnel, not the one she usually took, and it dumped her out on the second floor, in a narrow hallway just off the main. Before whomever it was could exit, she darted around the corner and pressed her back against the wall.  
  
After a few seconds a tall lanky boy who was all elbows and knees came around the same corner.  
  
"Ha!"  
  
"Ahhh!"  
  
"What are you doing?" In unison.  
  
"What am I doing? YOU were following ME!"  
  
"Well, of you knew, why didn't you say something?"  
  
"Oh yes, just turn and confront a strange stalker, quite possibly armed, so he could kill me and leave my body in a passage no one uses since the twins are gone, leaving me to rot there for several weeks until the stench attracts Mrs. Norris. Not the way I wanna go out, thank you very much. Open confrontation in a well it, open hall, much better."  
  
The boy looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "They told me you were nuts, but I didn't expect-"  
  
"Who?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Who told you?"  
  
"No one."  
  
"Bullshit."  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
Lucy shook her head, sighed, and leaned against the wall.  
  
"Well, spit it out."  
  
"Spit?"  
  
"Not literally, you twit. Just tell me why you were following me."  
  
"I was hoping you could help me."  
  
"Do you always stalk people you intend to ask for favors?"  
  
"Yes. I mean no, I mean… nevermind."  
  
He turned to back away.  
  
Lucy groaned. "Wait! I'm sorry, I have kinda a short fuse, I didn't mean to snap. Just, you go and talk and I'll keep my trap shut."  
  
The boy nodded.  
  
"Well, see, I have this problem, and I didn't want to tell anyone, but then I thought you might be able to help me with it."  
  
Lucy nodded.  
  
"See, I heard this two first years talking, about you actually, and then I asked some of the kids in my potions class if they had heard anything about you, and one said he just remembers when you showed up last year, and that he had heard about what you tried to do to Snape." He paused and grinned, "When I heard that I knew you must be all right."  
  
Lucy grinned, "Well, don't look for a repeat performance, I paid dearly for that incident."  
  
"Was it worth it?"  
  
"Every damned minute."  
  
The boy chuckled. Lucy smiled, "You mind if I ask you a question?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"What is this problem you think I can help you with."  
  
"Well, to see it you're gonna have to hit me."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Go ahead, just, step on my foot, pull me hair, that sort of thing."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Positive."  
  
"All right." Lucy didn't know what was about to happen, but she clamped down a tight shield around herself, and stepped on the boy's foot, hard.  
  
"Keep going."  
  
She pulled on his hair and yanked his ear.  
  
"Keep going. It has to hurt more."  
  
She kept stomping on his feet and pinching him, pulling hair and ears, until finally she slapped him open palm across his face.  
  
That was when the helmet from the suit of armor standing against the hall flew off its place and clattered to the floor, spears launched themselves against the ceiling, paintings clattered off their hooks, and a sword started spinning around, flying up and down the hall, heading right towards Lucy.  
  
Who stopped it with her mind three feet away, where it hung suspended in the air until she turned it so it was presenting the hilt, grasped it, and lowered it to her side. Then she turned to the boy.  
  
"Well, I'd say that's one hell of a little problem you have there- by the way, what is your name?"  
  
"Lynx, Lynx Brimstead. So, do you, um, know how to fix this?"  
  
Lucy flinched at the word 'fix'.  
  
"Well, do you want it to go away, or do you want to control it."  
  
"You can control that?"  
  
"Sure you can, how do you think the sword stopped?"  
  
"Good point. So, will you help me?"  
  
Lucy sighed and ran her finger through her hair. It wasn't like she could just say no. But, then again, this sort of thing might not even be allowed…. she needed to talk to someone.  
  
"Give me 24 hours, and I'll get back to you."  
  
"Fair enough."  
  
"Oh, and Lynx, don't get angry before then."  
  
"I'll try not to."  
  
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She needed to check something first. She didn't head back to her room, instead she made toward the library. She needed a quiet thinking space.  
  
She settled herself in a comfortable chair buried deep in the back of the stacks, with a volume of "Magical Freaks and Wizarding Anomalies" spread out on her lap. The chapters were full of tails of wizards who could speak without their tongue, or who had purple blood, or who for no reason at all just had singing voices that sounded exactly like the bells at St. Paul's, but nothing about strange wizards who had demonstrated western capabilities. That left her with two scenarios. Either there had never been such cases, or those people had never come forward. Given the society around here, she was banking on the second.  
  
The tiny lettering and faint print made her head feel heavy, and she found herself not fighting it as she began to nod off. A little nap would be good right now, she shut her eyes and settled back…  
  
But sleep was not what she got. She opened her eyes to find herself in a prison cell, looking out on a desolate landscape, listening to moans all around her… Azkaban, she was in Azkaban….wake up Lucy, you're dreaming….. but she didn't wake up. Usually, if she knew she was dreaming, she could snap out of it, but this time she couldn't, which meant that this wasn't her dream. This was somebody else's. Someone in this library was projecting, and she was trapped here until they woke up.  
  
No way. She had things to do. She had gotten sucked into one of Diego's nightmares before, all she had to do was find the dreamer. Shouldn't be too hard, not many children in Azkaban. Now that she knew she was in a dream, she wasn't trapped by the paralysis that makes most dreamers feel like they aren't in control. She stepped out of her cell, past the Dementor standing there, and began to walk down the cell block. She was focusing on the fear, acute and concentrated, that had to be where the kid was. She came to a cell with a Dementor inside, approaching a boy about her age, with black hair and an Indian coloring, who was sitting with his back against the wall, shielding a prone figure.  
  
"Leave him alone! Just leave him alone!" He was shouting at the Dementor. He didn't see her, but that was about to change. She reached out with her arm and hit him, mentally as well as physically. He turned to her in shock.  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
"Resheph Radu."  
  
"Lucy Montero, encantada, but you need to wake up now."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You're asleep, Resheph, and you're dreaming, and you may not know it, but you're projecting, and I'm kind of stuck in here with you. But I'd like to go home now, so in order to do that, you need to wake up."  
  
"How?"  
  
"Try opening your eyes."  
  
The boy blinked.  
  
"Not those eyes. Oh lord, all right, calm down and just, well, feel for a minute. This place doesn't feel like the real world, you need to find your way back to the real world. Think about how the chair you're sitting in is touching the bottom of you're legs, try to feel that pressure, or the pressure on your back, that's real. Can you feel it?"  
  
"I think so."  
  
"Now open your eyes."  
  
Suddenly Azkaban was gone. She was back in her chair, the book had fallen to the floor. She stood up and cracked her neck, then went looking for Resheph Radu. 


	4. Chapter 4: Welcome to the Jungle

Chapter Four: Welcome to the Jungle  
  
  
"Have you ever done anything like that before?"  
  
"I- I don't know. I mean, if I did, how would the other person know they weren't dreaming? I would I even know they were there?"  
  
Lucy nodded and pressed a mug of Mama Rosa's herbal tea into Resheph's still slightly shaking hands. It hadn't been difficult to spot the terrified boy frozen in his chair several aisles down from her in the library, and she had taken him back to Gryffindor tower with her to try and figure out what to do.  
  
"So, what is this, this thing I did?"  
  
"It's a different kind of magic, one that doesn't rely on the use of a wand, and which uses few true spells. It's more about energy manipulation and transmutation. Anyway, what it looks like is that you have a gift for projection, imparting what you are seeing, or thinking, directly into someone's mind. You might be able to communicate mind to mind, that's telepathy, as well, I'm not sure yet."  
  
"And you can do that?"  
  
"At my old school, that's the only magic I learned. They didn't teach us about wands or most Hogwart's spells."  
  
"Can anyone else here besides us do anything like that?"  
  
Lucy wasn't exactly sure how to answer that. Rasheph was scared, that was obvious, and Lynx had been as well. The Slytherin girl, she hadn't seemed scared, but she may not have realized what was happening. It wasn't her place to tell Rasheph about the others though, if they weren't in England it wouldn't have been a big deal, but here western magic was looked on largely as a primitive heathen-like practice.  
  
"I'm not sure. It's not abnormal really, there are probably lots of people here with potential that just wouldn't know an emerging gift if they saw it. It's probably like that all over the country, latent or something."  
  
"Right. So what do I do about it?"  
  
Lucy took a deep breath. "Well, that depends on you. I could try and block it for you, if it's early enough we can cap the channel that's funneling energy and you wouldn't project anymore. Although, I've never really done that and I couldn't guarantee that it wouldn't crack in a time of high emotional or physical stress."  
  
"All right, what's the other option."  
  
"The other option is that you learn to live with it, to control it."  
  
"And you can help me with that?"  
  
"I honestly can't say right now. I have to talk to a couple of people, but I will let you know tomorrow, how about that?"  
  
"Sounds fair. Thanks for waking me up, by the way."  
  
Lucy nodded, she wanted to ask him why he had been dreaming about Azkaban, but it wasn't her place.  
  
"No problem. I'd better go now, it was nice to meet you Rasheph."  
  
"Nice to meet you too Lucy."  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&  
  
"You'd better be dead, that is the only excuse."  
  
"You're being unreasonable."  
  
"Do you have any idea what time it is in Egypt?"  
  
"It can't be that much different than the time here."  
  
"And what time is it in England, Lucy?"  
  
"A little past three in the morning."  
  
"You are no longer my adopted sister."  
  
"Oh just shut up and listen will you, this is kinda important."  
  
"Kinda? You rip me from my sleep for kinda? You're lucky my roommate is on a trip to Greece right now, he'd kill you."  
  
"I'm shaking."  
  
"He could you know, he's big, and he's working on his third thesis and...."  
  
"Focus, Diego, please. Do you know if the Circle has any restrictions on the types of students a school is allowed to train?"  
  
"What? Slow down, I'm only half awake for heaven's sake." Indeed, the young, dark haired, Mexican American boy in the mirror was sitting crossed legged on a bed wearing a pair of boxers with glow in the dark smiley faces on them and rubbing his eyes. He wasn't exactly ready to act human at this point. But Lucy wasn't really giving him a choice.  
  
"You know, are there any rules that would prevent a school from taking on a student to train?"  
  
"No, not really."  
  
"And what about restriction on who can teach?"  
  
"I don't know, I'd have to check, it depends on the level of study."  
  
"Basic through intermediate."  
  
"Umm, I think you have to have been Master level for several years to get a license. Lucy, what is going on over there?"  
  
"Well, it's kind of a long story."  
  
So, she told him all about Dumbledore's proposal, her refusal, and the sudden flurry of three potential students gifted with western abilities.  
  
"Wow."  
  
"Thank you Diego, that's very helpful."  
  
"Sorry, but, wow."  
  
"I mean, I want to help them, but first of all I don't know if its allowed, and second of all..."  
  
"You don't want to."  
  
"Right."  
  
"Because you're angry at the English Ministry."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"That's awful spiteful of you Lucy."  
  
"Well, aren't you mad at them?"  
  
"Of course I am. But I don't think that everyone over there should suffer because of one executive decision that was obviously very difficult to make."  
  
"So you think I should accept Dumbledore's proposal."  
  
"No. I think you should train those students."  
  
"But..."  
  
"And you shouldn't tell the headmaster."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because I think that this has become Espiritu's business, and not his."  
  
"I'm confused Diego."  
  
"It's simple, look at it this way. If Dumbledore had given you a list of names and you had tracked them down and put them in a room and got all their gifts under control, that would have been Dumbledore's plan. But that is not how Espiritu works, is it?"  
  
"No."  
  
"How does it work?"  
  
"You're starting to sound like the professor," Lucy groaned.  
  
"Just answer the question, trainee."  
  
"Fine. Be more specific."  
  
"How do students get invited to Espiritu?"  
  
"They don't. That's why they still think of us as a slightly religiously affiliated school, because students find us, through some series of events students find there way to Espiritu to be taught. And some still think that is the will of the Four manifested on earth."  
  
"Well, Lucy, maybe its me, but isn't that exactly what happened to you? You weren't seeking students, you made that clear to Dumbledore. But they found you."  
  
"So this is the will of the Four?"  
  
"Perhaps. And this would be a great opportunity for you, the one who wanted to ensure the survival of the Espiritu school, to do something about it. Teach our magic to another part of the world."  
  
At that moment the Diego in the mirror turned around, and Lucy could hear loud voices shouting in Egyptian from the corridor behind him.  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"I don't know, and my Egyptian is pretty crummy, I've only been here two days."  
  
"I thought you said it was an appallingly early hour?"  
  
"It is, I don't know who that is, or what they are about, but I'm gonna go find out. If its interesting, I'll get back to you."  
  
"Get back to me anyway."  
  
"Good luck hermanita. I love you."  
  
"Love you too, you better go before you miss them."  
  
"Try not to get into too much trouble."  
  
"You know me."  
  
"That's what I'm worried about. Adios!"  
  
With that the image rippled and faded and Lucy was left staring at her own reflection.  
  
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She didn't sleep well that night, but in the morning she knew Diego had been right about at least one thing, she needed to do this. Not for Dumbledore or for the Ministry, but because untrained gifts manifesting in older trainees were dangerous, and for the other reason that she would be a hypocrite if she didn't do it.  
  
She managed to slip notes to Rasheph and Lynx during breakfast, but since the strange girl from Slytherin hadn't asked her for help yet, she was going to have to try another way. And it was going to be a little disturbing.  
  
She sat down next to Seamus, pretending to be listening to the endless debate over which feints needed to be practiced more, and searched the hall for the girl from Hagrid's class. She finally found her, a dark head of long hair sitting next to Pansy, leaning in to listen to a girl with very short red hair who was talking animatedly with her hands.  
  
Lucy took a deep breath and tried to keep her 'head voice' light and friendly.  
  
**So how long have you been able to do this?**  
  
The girl sat straight up in her seat, knocking over a glass of orange juice. That instigated a flurry of questions from her peers, and she appeared to be muttering an apology as she cleaned up the mess.  
  
**Sorry** Lucy tried to make her voice sound as guilty as she felt.  
  
**Has it been long, or it this recent?**  
  
The girl looked very confused.  
  
She doesn't know how to answer, Lucy thought to herself.  
  
**Right. Listen, you are not insane. If this has been going on for over a year rub your left eye, for less than a year rub your right.**  
  
The girl paused for a moment, hesitating, then rubbed her right eye.  
  
Lucy nodded to herself.  
  
**OK, this is going to sound strange, but I can help you with this, if you want. I already promised to help two other people, you're not the only one this has happened to. Do you want any help with this? Lean your chin on your left hand for yes, on your right hand for no.**  
  
The girl didn't hesitate this time, she leaned her chin on her left hand.  
  
**Good. OK, we are meeting in the library, the grouping of chairs two rows down from the restricted section, at five o'clock this afternoon. Can you make that? Switch the hand you are leaning on for yes.**  
  
The hand switched.  
  
**I'll see you then.**  
  
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Advanced Astronomy was one of Lucy's favorite classes, but today she couldn't help fidgeting. She had barely made it through potions without doing something to set Snape off, and right now she couldn't focus on the lecture about the Crab Nebula for more than five minutes at a time. She nearly jumped out of her seat when they were dismissed, which earned her a raised eyebrow from Professor Quark, and with an apologetic smile she raced out of the room.  
  
She used every shortcut she knew to get back to Gryffindor tower without being trapped in the crush of students filling the halls, sprinting through the portrait hole and up the stairs to her room. She wasn't running because of he meeting this afternoon, although she was nervous about that, but she was expecting a message from Diego very soon, and didn't want to miss it.  
  
But when she 'rang' the mirror at the Cairo school where he was staying, Diego didn't answer. He was supposed to have mirror duty until six o clock her time, but the person whose face appeared at the summons was an African girl with a thick accent.  
  
"Yes, may I help you?"  
  
"I'm looking for Diego Alvarez?"  
  
"Alvarez? I'm sorry, no I don't know a Diego Alvarez."  
  
"He just got there, he arrived on Sunday."  
  
"Let me check the log book.....ah, yes, he was here."  
  
"Was here?"  
  
The girl looked uncomfortable, and kept looking over her shoulder.  
  
"Yes, he's been moved, he was sent south with a bunch of pre-masters to the Sudan, to join the Sahara school."  
  
"But he wasn't supposed to go there until mid-winter."  
  
"Well, maybe they'll send him back, I'm sorry I don't know what else to tell you. And I really need to keep this connection open for urgent calls."  
  
"Urgent? What's going on?"  
  
The girl shrugged. "I have no idea. But between you, me, and the wall, something must have happened. There have been more people moving in and out of here than the downtown bazaar. Nothing tragic, nothing like last year, but they have something they're buzzing about all right. Now, if there isn't anything else, I really have to-"  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I understand. Thanks a lot."  
  
She dropped her spell line and the image blinked out. She wasn't worried, just aggravated. She hated being out of the loop. She decided she ought to try and look back over what she had failed to accomplish in Astronomy when she was jolted to attention by the sound of the door being slammed, hard.  
  
Hermione stalked into the room and flung herself down on the bed, sitting up long enough to yank the curtains shut before Lucy heard her flop back down again.  
  
"Um, Hermione...."  
  
"I DON'T want to talk about it Lucy."  
  
"Ok, then."  
  
Sensing that the girl wanted to be alone, Lucy took her book down to the common room to study before she had to go to the library.  
  
The first thing she noticed when she came down was Ron and Harry sitting down to play chess, but they hadn't touched their pieces. When Ron finally made a move his pawn was immediately dismembered by Harry's knight, and Ron didn't seem to mind in the least.  
  
She made her way to the corner and sat down in a chair next to Seamus.   
  
"How long have they been like that?"  
  
"Not long. They just came in, with Hermione, but she marched straight upstairs without looking at either of 'em."  
  
"Yeah, I saw her. Any idea what's going on?"  
  
Seamus shook his head. "You ask, me they're all nuts. But you get used to it. I mean, it really isn't unusual for Harry, Ron, and Hermione to be acting strange. They've been conspiring on one thing or another every year they've been here."  
  
Lucy nodded and opened her book, looking up occasionally with amusement to watch what could go down in record as the worst game of chess ever played in the Gryffindor common room. They were playing worse than she did, and that was saying something.  
  
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When she made her way to the cluster of chairs in the library, Rasheph was already there.  
  
"So you're really gonna do this, huh?"  
  
Lucy shook her head. "WE are really gonna do this. I'm not exactly a teacher, we're going to have to hope we'll be able to help each other."  
  
Rasheph nodded. At that moment Lynx came around the bookshelf and dropped down.  
  
"It's an awful public place Lucy... oh hello." He extended his hand towards Rasheph "Brimstead, Lynx Brimstead."  
  
Rasheph stood and shook his hand. "Radu, Rasheph Radu." He looked studied Lynx closely for a minute. "You're a Hufflepuff, right?"  
  
Lynx nodded. "Got me there, fifth year. I'm one of the alternate keepers for the Quidditch team this year too. And you are a..."  
  
"Ravenclaw. Sixth year-"  
  
"And a prefect!" Lucy had suddenly noticed Rasheph's badge. "I didn't notice that before. You better realize now Rasheph that you are officially off duty during these meetings."  
  
The Indian boy grinned. "Not to worry. We aren't all angels you know. Not all prefects live their lives by the book."  
  
"Hermione sure does," Lucy mumbled.  
  
Lynx looked around, "So, are we going to get started or what?"  
  
"Actually, there should be-"  
  
"Is this where I'm supposed to be?" A head of long black hair peered around the bookcase.  
  
Lucy grinned, "Yeah, you're in the right place. I'm Lucy Montero, and this is Lynx Brimstead and Rasheph Radu. They're the others I was telling you about. And, I'm sorry, I don't know your name..."  
  
"Oh, I'm Bethany, Bethany Tsepish. People just call me Bet though"  
  
"Pleased to meet you."  
  
"Hi."  
  
The new girl looked around uncomfortably. "So, um, which houses are you in?"  
  
"Gryffindor."  
  
"Ravenclaw."  
  
"Hufflepuff."  
  
"Which house are you in?" Lynx asked.  
  
"Slytherin."  
  
Silence from the two boys. Lucy gulped, maybe she should have mentioned that fact sooner.  
  
That was when Bet rolled her eyes and dropped down in a chair. "You know, its not like I'm going to hex you on the spot or anything."  
  
The boys looked sheepish. Lucy grinned. "Sorry, I guess we didn't realize..."  
  
"No one ever does," Bet groaned. "But you try being despised for six years, it gets real old, real fast. And its not like I've ever done anything REALLY awful."  
  
"So those rumors about ritualistic sacrifices of first years aren't true?"  
  
"And the drinking of snake blood as an initiation rite?"  
  
"The monthly Slytherin orgies?"  
  
Bet just leaned back in her chair with a satisfied smile on her face. "I'll never tell."'  
  
The rest of them burst into laughter, only to be hushed by Madam Pince, who was four rows away.  
  
"I think," Lucy recovered, "The first order of business should be to adjourn to someplace a little less conspicuous."  
  
"No argument here," Lynx grinned.  
  
They filed out of the library and up the main stairs. Lucy was picking her route fairly carefully. She was pretty sure she could trust the other three, but she didn't want to be wrong and have them know all the tunnels she had found using Asriel's old maps. She stuck to main corridors, taking the long way to where she was headed, a small and unused classroom not far from the base of the divination stairs, rather than taking shortcuts through the walls. When she finally got to that hall she counted three pictures frames and pulled on the fourth, which swung open. Another blessing was that most of the paintings in this hall were landscapes, except the picture of some headmaster's twin children, painted well over 150 years ago, and they generally found themselves more interesting than anything else; in other words, no one was there to see anything. Through the hole behind the painting they traveled a short hallway and emerged in the hall beyond. This was a lightly trafficked hallway, but to get to it the normal way led right past the hallway Filche's office was on, and Lucy wanted to avoid that.   
  
Two doors down she found the door she was looking for, unlocked, as usual, and she went in.  
  
"Where are we?" Rasheph looked around, "I can't even keep it straight what side of the castle we're on."  
  
"I know WHAT it is," Lynx groaned, looking around at the books on the shelves, the cabinet with neatly labeled materials, the cauldrons lined up on the top of the bookcase. "It's one of the OWL prep rooms for this year. Open all day, you can even get passes with special permission to stay here all night, see the pillows? Percival Norman, he's got the bed next to mine, he's been in the one near our common room all this afternoon, and its still the first week of school." He shuddered. "Do we have to study here Lucy?"  
  
Lucy shook her head. "We're not, but I don't know another way in yet."  
  
"In where?"  
  
But Lucy was already heading toward the fireplace, crawling on her hands and knees in the soot, and looking around the edge. She looked at the piece of paper in her hand, than smacked herself in the forehead. "They drew the room upside down."  
  
She crossed to the other side of the room, shoved a trunk out of the way, and pulled back part of the rug that covered the floor. The stone underneath had a small ring on it, she pulled. And pulled. Nothing.  
  
"Damn."  
  
She heard a snort from behind her, and looked up at Rasheph.  
  
"What do you have to say sir?"  
  
He shook his head. "Well, I know you're being real nice to help me and all, but Lucy, are you a witch or aren't you?"  
  
He muttered something she couldn't make out while swishing his wand toward the trapdoor. Then he lazily bent down and pulled it open.  
  
"Aren't we the clever one?" Lucy raised her eyebrow and peered into the dark, then dropped down.  
  
"Well, come on! And pull the rug shut behind you!"  
  
The trapdoor led to narrow spiraling staircase inside the walls. They followed it down to a carved wooden door, which was unlocked, leading them into a small room with several arm chairs and a low table near a fireplace.  
  
"Where are we now?"  
  
Lucy shrugged, "I have no clue. This was the old 7th year gentlemen's prefects lounge, cerca the 1970's, when the lounges were still single sex. No one uses it anymore because its so out of the way. That room above was an old prefect's study. I hear the new ones are much nicer."  
  
"They are," Rasheph ran a finger over the dust on the mantle. "Could it have taken any longer to get here though?"  
  
Lucy shrugged, "My sources didn't tell me the direct way, but that's pretty easy to find out. The door's over there."  
  
She pointed to a door across the room. Lynx went and opened it, looking around carefully, before darting out and returning grinning like an idiot.  
  
"Well," Bet asked, "What's out there?"  
  
He shrugged, "Just the place any red blooded male would want outside his study. It's the kitchens!"  
  
At this Rasheph leaped up and sprinted out to verify this fact for himself, returing with a similar dreamy expression.  
  
Bet snorted. "Men."  
  
Lucy shook her head, "There has to be another way in."  
  
While the boys salivated, the girls combed the floor and the walls for a possible exit, until Bet shoved the bookcase into the wall, where it kept moving back, revealing a small alcove, with a door to the left, and a door to the right.   
  
They looked at each other. Lucy went left, Bet went right.  
  
Bet came back quickly, a small smile on her face.  
  
"What?" Lynx asked.  
  
She grinned, "Well, I know where I was, so I'm guessing where Lucy is."  
  
That was when they heard a shriek echo and Lucy came running back in.  
  
"Ewwwwwwwww!"  
  
She stood there sputtering and making absolutely no sense.  
  
"Bet, where were YOU?"  
  
She grinned, "I came out in the girls toilet, floor below the great hall. Which means Lucy was in the-"  
  
"That was the most foul thing I ever saw in my life! How do you handle the smell?" Lucy came stumbling back through the door, gasping for air.  
  
Lynx and Rasheph just looked at each other and collapsed in a heap laughing. Lucy was not amused.  
  
"Why was there an entrance from the girls room? What kind of sick people were prefects in those days? Ewwww, I am traumatized for life!"  
  
Bet helped Lucy to a chair, where she sank down. "So very not funny. But at least we have a better way in now."  
  
"Couldn't anyone find it?"  
  
Lucy shook her head. "Not unless anyone ever tried to move a toilet before. I don't think I'm going to like that part."  
  
The boys calmed themselves and the four settled themselves in chairs around the table.  
  
"So," Lynx began, "How exactly are we going to do this?"  
  
They stared at each other uneasily.  
  
"Well," Lucy had recovered her composure, "I guess the first order of business would be to decide WHO you want to know about this."  
  
"Does anyone else know right now?"  
  
"No one at Hogwarts."  
  
The small sighs of relief that escaped the other three were not beyond Lucy's notice.  
  
"I take it that you want to keep this discreet?"  
  
Bet nodded, looking at Lynx and Rasheph with a similar look of fear, they were also nodding.  
  
"No offense Lucy, but, well-"  
  
"I mean this just isn't DONE-"  
  
"If anyone in Slytherin knew..."  
  
Lucy nodded. "Well I pretty much expected that. I think I only know of one person who would choose to have this whole thing made public.... anyhow..."  
  
At that point Lynx's stomach started to rumble, along with Rasheph's. Lucy couldn't help but giggle and Bet joined in.  
  
"Maybe we better start work next time."  
  
"Good idea."  
  
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"Stop fidgeting."  
  
"I'm not fidgeting."  
  
"Come off it, you're making ME antsy just looking at you, now cut it out."  
  
"Fine." Lucy gave Ron a nasty look and sat on her left hand to keep it from drumming on the table, crossed her ankles to keep her legs from swinging, and tried to concentrate on the baked potato in front of her. It had been almost two weeks since their conversation had been interrupted and she still hadn't heard any news from Diego yet. She knew he was fine, she'd know if he wasn't, but it was killing her not to know what was going on in HER wizarding world.  
  
By now everyone at Hogwarts knew what had happened in THEIR world. Fudge had sent another set of reserves to Azkaban to try and break the dementors' hold on the prison. It had been the largest addition of manpower since the summer. Lucy had heard it first in a note from Marguerite shortly after dinner on Thursday. Parker's sister had been outside of Azkaban with the Ministry effort since July, and his brother had just been sent out Sunday night. An express owl had arrived Monday during lunch, and it was that news that had caused the kind hearted first year to hole himself up all afternoon. The Marguerite had wormed it out of him after an hour or two, and had him more or less dealing well with the whole situation. Lucy reminded herself she ought to pay them a visit sometime over the weekend.  
  
But Lucy wasn't the only one who's mind was clearly occupied elsewhere at the Gryffindor table that night. Hermione had that look that only came over her face when she was mentally reading through the library card catalogue, planning what looked to be a lengthy expedition. Ron was fruitlessly trying to engage her in conversation. Harry was also looking preoccupied, although it could as easily have been Quidditch or Voldemort, she wasn't very good at reading Harry, and she wasn't curious enough to be tempted to glean his actual thoughts.  
  
Besides, she knew better than to try and discern what was going on with those three. Seamus had told her, and she had seen for herself, that some things never left their little circle. And they were probably things she didn't want to know about anyway. As it was she was one of the few people outside the group who knew about Sirius Black's true existence, but that was more due to an accident and Harry being too kind a person to perform a memory charm than anything else. So for the moment she actually listened to Ron and stopped her fidgeting, stabbing her potato with a force that caused Seamus to glance at her from his place across the table, raise a single questioning eyebrow, and return to his meal. Lucy didn't care, it was the safest avenue to vent her aggression, all things considering.  
  
  
*****Me talking. Sorry to be so long in getting this out, college is kind of not being so fun right now. Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks to those of you that review. Oh, and if you wanted to know, Bet's last name, Tsepish, isn't pronounced 'Zepish', its more like if you said the word 'cats' and you took that last 'ts' sound and began the word with that. Sorry, I just got out of a linguistics course, so I still have all that stuff on the brain.******* 


	5. Chapter Five: Over My Head

1 Chapter Five: Over My Head  
  
"And stay there, you little stinker. At least here you won't have a chance to singe Lavender's new designer dragon scale boots." Lucy put her hands on her hips and smiled with satisfaction at her handiwork. She had cleared away any old books and papers from one corner of the old prefects lounge so that there was no flammable material in a two meter radius. She had stolen the largest cauldron she could find from the OWL prep room up the stairs and filled it with water from the tap in the attached girls toilet. The egg, which she had named Sparky, was lying in a small nest floating in the middle of the cauldron. Her textbook said that mother phoenixes usually douse their nests in water at least once a day, to prevent the heat of the eggs from burning the tree branch. In any case, it meant that should Sparky accidentally fall out and into the cauldron, the water wouldn't affect him, since his heat would make it all boil off so fast it wouldn't be submerge much longer than a natural dunking from its mother. And Lucy had lined the bottom of the cauldron with a towel so he wouldn't crack either. All in all she was quite proud of herself.  
  
"Who are you talking to?"  
  
She turned around quickly to see Bethany Tsepish staring at her, and Rasheph entering through the door from the stairs moments later.  
  
Then it was Bethany's turn to be alarmed.  
  
"How did you get there? There wasn't anyone behind me in the stairs!"  
  
Rashep grinned, "I didn't use the OWL room enterance."  
  
"Well you sure as hell didn't use the toilet, so how did you get there?"  
  
"Come out here for a moment."  
  
It was rather crowded with all of them in the stairs, but they made do, Lucy hopping back and forth from one foot to the other, impatiently.  
  
"Come on then Rasheph, what?"  
  
"Up here." He led them up to where the stairs turned, and in the back of the spiral Lucy saw what he was so excited about. A door.  
  
Bet just shook her head. "How…"  
  
"Found it a few days ago. I left my sister's Rememberall thingamagig in here last time, had it in my pocket, I was trying to fix it. Anyway, Anjali said she wanted it back so she could send it to the manufacturer, so I came back here to find it. And on my way back up the stairs I stubbed my toe on the steps."  
  
"Well…"  
  
"And I swore."  
  
Bet rolled her eyes. "And that is important because…"  
  
"Watch."  
  
They waited as Rasheph closed the door. It disappeared into the brick, and Lucy moved forward to try and find it, but it was gone. She waited expectantly as the Indian boy took a breath and yelled "Rotten Rowena!"  
  
The door opened, and the two girls could see through the frame into a hallway.  
  
"So, another way into the halls, cute." Bet seemed unimpressed. Rasheph shook his head. "You don't understand, that's not a hallway near here. That's the hall that the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room is on. That's clear on the other side of the castle!"  
  
Bet's eyes grew wide and Rasheph grinned. He turned to Lucy, who was staring, not at the door, but at him. Her arms crossed in front of her. She raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Rotten Rowena?"  
  
Rasheph blushed, "I guess you kind of have to be a Ravenclaw to…its really pretty popular…"  
  
"Oh yeah, you really live on the edge there Rasheph."  
  
Bet giggled and patted his head. "Don't worry, its very rough and manly…really."  
  
She and Lucy gave each other a look, and grinned.  
  
Rasheph rolled his eyes. "Veryy funny, well, go ahead, you try."  
  
"Try what?"  
  
"Well, if Rowena will show me the way to my common room…. come you two, Bet, you're supposed to be smart!"  
  
Lucy tossed her head. "And I'm just here as the comic relief. I get it; the names of the other founders should open the doors to the other three rooms. Didn't you try?'  
  
He nodded. "I did, nothing happened, I think it has to be someone from in the house."  
  
The girls looked at each other and shrugged.  
  
"Salazaar."  
  
"Godric."  
  
To the right of the Ravenclaw door and a little further up the stairs, a door in the wall opened to reveal a hallway with the Fat Lady clearly in sight. To the left, and several steps down, a door opened revealing a dark hallway in the dungeons that could only have been the entrance to the Slytherin common room.  
  
"What do these look like on the other side?" Lucy asked warily.  
  
"You can't see 'em. Mine's next to a statue of some old headmaster, but even after you say the password, you can't see anything, you just have to kind of walk through, like the platform at King's Cross."  
  
"HELLO???" Lynx's voice echoed through the staircase, causing all three of them to jump.  
  
"We're coming!" Bet called back, closing her door as the other two did the same and heading back down the stairs to the light of the prefects lounge.  
  
"What's going on?" Lynx reclined in a chair, a pastry in his hand and his feet propped up on the table. "And is something burning in here?" He sniffed the air.  
  
"Oh hell, " Lucy muttered and dashed to the corner where Sparky was burning a hole in his nest. She doused him with a handful of now warm water and sat back on her heels. "I guess I'm going to have to find non-flammable nest material, I can't watch him all the time."  
  
"Pumice," Bet said. "It ought to float, and it you carve out a well for him so he won't roll off."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
They then set about filling in Lynx, who had been late because of a run to the kitchens where he had bribed his usual house elf with some glow in the dark smiley face boxer shorts for the pastry he was now licking off his fingers. A quick dash to the stairway revealed that his door, which appeared between Bet's and Rasheph's, worked in the same manner.  
  
"I wonder how they got there?"  
  
"Someone must have built them."  
  
"Someone smart."  
  
"And someone who used this room before it was a prefects lounge." Lynx said lazily.  
  
"You think?"  
  
"Anyone who knew about it after they added the bathroom entrances wouldn't have gone to all the work. I think this place is older than we think."  
  
"It makes sense, sort of. Whomever it was stopped using it, someone found out it was here, and the school started using it for more legitimate purposes."  
  
"So you're assuming the business done before was illegitimate?" Bet raised an eyebrow at Lucy.  
  
"Of course! I mean, why hide it like that. And, after all, what are WE doing here?"  
  
"Good point."  
  
There was silence for a moment, then Lucy sighed and straightened up. "Speaking of what we ARE here for, I think the best way to start is to give you a better idea of just what exactly this type of magic is, where its studied, basically a crash course in my life before last year. Then we'll move on the shielding in a few days."  
  
"What happened to learning from each other?" Lynx pouted.  
  
"Oh for the love of the gods, there's not gonna be a test on this! But you need to understand that this magic is very different, so you can be safe. And I can't very well learn anything from you until I can be sure you won't blow me up or knock me out. Don't be a baby."  
  
Rasheph raised an eyebrow, Bet snorted, and Lynx crossed his arms around his head and leaned back, grinning. "A prefect who's not in charge anymore… this is going to be fun to watch. Let the games begin!"  
  
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Lucy stopped by the room briefly to grab her unfinished star chart and intended to go back to the common room to work on it when she noticed Hermione, face down on the bed, again. She sighed and sat down next to her.  
  
"Hermione? Chica, are you alright?"  
  
"Argh." Came the voice from in the mattress.  
  
"Is that yes or no?"  
  
"Its neither," the voice came out clearer as Hermione sighed, turned over, and sat up. "I'm just emotionally and physically exhausted."  
  
"Does this have something to do with Harry and Ron?"  
  
"Oh, in a way, but that's not what's bothering me right now. I'm just tired."  
  
"Class?"  
  
"That, and well, you know prefects are in charge of watching the firsties and making sure they get on all right?"  
  
"Uh huh."  
  
"Well, I just spent three hours with Belle Bedford."  
  
"The one with the twin in Slytherin?  
  
"And therein lies the problem. She's never been apart from him for more than three hours in her entire life. Parents are divorced so they are each the only constant thing in each other's lives, what with moving between houses and such. And now, well, you know how Slytherin and Gryffindor are. He's made friends, she's made friends, and the two sets don't get on at all. When Brady isn't around, Belle gets teased and taunted by the Slytherin girls, when Belle isn't around, the Gryffindor boys do the same to Brady. And to top it off, he's always been the protective one, so Belle isn't used to fending for herself, which isn't good. She can't always fall back on her brother because she can't get near him anymore. They see each other, but it isn't long before someone interrupts them, and they don't want to lose their new friends either, you know, have them think that they prefer people from a rival house. If they were in anything but Slytherin and Gryffindor, if one was a Ravenclaw like Parvati and Padma, this wouldn't be an issue. Anyway, three hours of crying and anger venting on that over and over…ugh, my head hurts."  
  
"Is she all right?"  
  
"For the moment. No telling when it will break again though."  
  
"Have you tried talking to the first year boys?"  
  
"What, scold them? It won't work."  
  
"No, don't go about it that way. You know the types that get sorted in here, you might try playing up on their protective instincts. I mean, Belle is a nice, pretty, tiny little thing, if you told them they were making it very hard for her, don't mention the crying or she'll kill you, and that the best way to earn her trust and gratitude was to leave her brother alone, to help her out, they might respond."  
  
"I see what you mean."  
  
"The way Ron and Harry stick up for you."  
  
"They're going to be together for seven years, we might as well have them working together now. I might just do that…tomorrow when my head stops throbbing."  
  
"Do you want any tea?"  
  
"Lavender went to get some, I'll be fine. Could you close the curtains though? The light hurts my head."  
  
"Sure." Lucy got up softly and drew the curtains around the bed before picking up her books and supplies and heading down to the common room.  
  
She found Seamus sitting on a couch by the window, his feet propped up on the table, reading his Transfiguration book, she dropped down next to him and began to unroll the unfinished chart, carefully placing weights at the corners, setting out her book, and her quills, with several different colored bottles of ink needed for labeling things.  
  
"What is that horrible mess?"  
  
"Advanced Astronomy V, and please move your feet, I need the space."  
  
"You're cracked."  
  
"No, taking Arithmancy is cracked. Besides, I'm good at this."  
  
"Whatever, so how is Barbarians Anonymous coming along?"  
  
Barbarians Anonymous, or the BA, was Seamus' nickname for what she was doing with Bet, Rasheph, and Lynx. They had agreed that he could know that the club existed, but she couldn't tell him the names of the members.  
  
"Fine. I think they understand about the energy lines and stuff, we started a little shielding, but by then it was time for dinner and shielding is something that requires more attention than can be got when the kitchens are that active and so nearby, we're going to have to start stocking food."  
  
"There must be guys in it then."  
  
Lucy grinned, "So you know how fruitless it is to try and compete with an empty stomach, although theirs are far from empty."  
  
Seamus grinned, nodded, and turned back to his book as Lucy became absorbed in her chart. She didn't look up thirty minutes later when Harry and Ron entered the room, annoyed looks on their faces. They made for the stairs, up to the girls dorms.  
  
"I wouldn't do that guys," she heard Lavender's voice, and then glanced up to see her sitting casually on the bottom step, effectively blocking the way.  
  
"Come off it Lavender, you don't know what's going on."  
  
"You're right, I don't. But I'm pretty sure Hermione does, and she's the one who asked me to come down here and keep you out. She's not in the mood to see you right now."  
  
The boys looked at Lavender, up the stairs, and back to each other. As it was, leaving things alone for a night won out over forcing their way past, and they headed towards their own room.  
  
It was only after they left and she turned to ask Seamus if he knew what was going on did she notice the tall boy rubbing his forehead.  
  
"What's the matter?"  
  
"Nothing, they were angry, nervous, upset, it made my head hurt."  
  
"It shouldn't…." Without another word Lucy placed a hand on Seamus' forehead and probed down the familiar channel into his subconscious, where his new abilities lay. She sighed with relief, nothing had changed, his channels were stable. She broke the contact, and let her eyes unfocus, looking at him keenly with the Sight. There was the problem.  
  
"You're shields are full of holes Seamus, I thought you said you'd been practicing."  
  
"I had, its just, Quidditch, its exhausting, you have no idea, and, well, it just takes too much energy…"  
  
Lucy groaned, "Damn Quidditch, so you'd rather win than preserve your sanity is that it?"  
  
He looked at her and cocked an eyebrow, "You have to ask?"  
  
She shook her head. "Fine. Listen, I'll put shields on you tonight, but tomorrow, Quidditch or no, we are going over all the basics again. Got it?"  
  
He looked at her warily, "Isn't that going to drain you? Teaching all day and then shielding yourself and me?"  
  
She shrugged, "You haven't left me with much choice, have you? People did used to go mad with full gifts that were untrained and un-damped, and I don't intended to see that happen to you."  
  
The look of guilt and shame on Seamus' face made her heart pang, she'd forgotten with his chivalrous streak that knowing he was responsible for making her rapidly use up her already depleted resources wasn't going to sit well. And knowing him he might get stupid and stubborn and not let her do it, and then where would they be?  
  
She grinned at him and crossed her eyes. "Oh don't go get all mopey on me, I'll be fine. Just, here, move your foot to the left."  
  
He looked at her strangely, but complied, and Lucy maneuvered her sitting position onto the floor, so when she sat crossed legged her right leg was in contact with Seamus' left foot.  
  
"Good. It's easier to keep the connection going if there's physical contact. Then I can just spread my shield out farther, pretending you are an extension of me rather than setting up two shield systems."  
  
He raised an eyebrow, "So, I'm just a giant leg tumor?"  
  
"More or less, now quiet please, I have work to do."  
  
Seamus rolled his eyes and readjusted his lounging position so his foot didn't fall asleep, and went back to his transfig. Lucy bent over her chart.  
  
But it had been a very long time since she had reinforced someone else's shielding in addition to her own, let alone created another shield from scratch, and she had forgotten how fast it would drain her resources. She began to lean farther and farther over her chart, her eyes straining more and more to makes out the tiny writing necessary to label every detail accurately. Lucy was a fanatic about her charts, she had seen a set that her mentor had made when he was only in intermediate, and they were the most beautiful things she had ever seen. She had one of them framed and on her wall at Espiritu, although now it looked slightly less elegant since the glass was all cracked and the delicate frame snapped. Nevertheless, she was determined to make one just as good.  
  
When Seamus looked up, it was past midnight. The candles had burned down and the common room was empty. He shook his head, he must have dozed off somewhere in the middle of that last paragraph. He looked down to see Lucy's head lying on top of her folded arms, her left elbow dangerously close to spilling deep red ink over her chart. He reached over and carefully moved the bottle out of harms way. Lucy was out cold. It wasn't like her though, normally she shifted in her sleep, it must have been a miracle she didn't spill ink everywhere.  
  
Then, as he stood up and stretched, he felt a rush back into his mind, like popping his ears. That's when he looked down and saw his foot was no longer in contact with Lucy. She had been shielding him the whole time, she must have worn herself out.  
  
He carefully pulled her from under her arms to draw her up on the couch. She didn't wake up, and he ended up with Lucy in a sitting position next to him, rather like a large doll. And it was as he was pulling her back to get her legs up that he realized he had effectively trapped himself behind her. He sighed, well, she had to wake up sometime. Besides, he thought, it's the least he could do. They made a good team, the pair of them, he watched her back, and she watched his. He smiled to himself as he settled her dark head into a more comfortable position against his shoulder. If she woke up she'd be furious for all this patronizing, she was invincible as far as she was concerned. But she wasn't, and the sooner she learned that, the better.  
  
Seamus thought a great deal as he lay back, imprisoned by Lucy's body weight, but even the chivalrous need their sleep, and when Lucy woke at just past two in the morning, she found herself carefully cushioned on the sofa, with Seamus's head on her right, his hair in his eyes.  
  
She shook her head, the damned chivalry was going to kill his back some day. She carefully disentangled herself and got to her feet without waking the slumbering Irishman. Softly she collected her materials and placed them on the trunk at the foot of her bed and returned downstairs.  
  
She crouched down so her head was on the same level as Seamus'.  
  
"Hey, Seamus, can you wake up a bit?"  
  
"Uhhrgh? Wasssit?"  
  
"It's late, do you want to sleep here, or go to your bed?"  
  
"MmmmissscoldIdonwannamove."  
  
"All right." She hurried back upstairs and grabbed a quilt off the end of her bed, trotted back down, and carefully covered the boy up.  
  
"Buenas noches," she patted his head and went up the stairs.  
  
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Lucy had just about come to the end of her patience with Diego when an owl dropped something on her plate at breakfast about a week later. She frowned, removed the envelope from her scrambled eggs, wiped off the grease, and opened it suspiciously, there was no return address. She recognized Deigo's scrawl immediately, and as she unfolded the paper, a newpaper clipping fell into her lap. She set it aside and read:  
  
"I know, I know, I should have talked to you sooner, but really, you don't know what it like down here, they've got me working all the time. Plus I have to help take care of the camels, I hate camels Luce and you know it. They smell, they spit, sit down for no reasoin whatsoever…. Anyway, the thing I thought was a big deal, really isn't such a big deal, I mean, it is, but really for us. That clipping pretty much tells what happened. It looks like a visiting group from Cairo got caught in the middle of all that, two dead, and a dozen injured, but, well, you know, at that time no one knew who was responsible. It sounds horrible, but I'm kind of relieved, aren't you? That IT isn't happening all over again? So that's the story, sorry to worry you, hope everything is all right and that you are staying out of trouble. I'll talk to you as soon as I get some decent hours around here. Love you and miss you ~Diego"  
  
She picked up the clipping and scanned the headline, "Suicide bomber kills fifteen in Jerusalem café." She read it over, stumbling a bit in her rusty Egyptian, and smiled when she saw Diego had translated certain difficult passages for her in the margin. There was a list of names on the back, all unfamiliar, two with little asterisks, they must have been the ones killed. She felt horrible, but she agreed with Diego, it was nice to know that this wasn't designed to target people from the Circle, that they had just been bystanders. She didn't want to be stuck here while Voldemort raided schools again like he did last year.  
  
She folded the clipping back into the letter and placed them inside the envelope. One mystery solved, she thought to herself as she gazed down the table to where Hermione was sitting with Harry and Ron, but saying precious little. Those three were becoming more and more perplexing by the day. She had finally tried to get Hermione to spill a little on the big secret, but she just told Lucy she was crazy, there was nothing wrong, and could she borrow another quill please? Lucy had given up the direct approach, and was content as long as Hermione didn't fall into anymore fits of depression that she, Lavender, and Parvati would have to pull her out of.  
  
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"You're not grounded."  
  
"I am so."  
  
"No, you're not."  
  
"Luce, I've been doing this for months, I think I know when I'm-HEY! What was that?" All of a sudden Lucy's mental shove knocked Seamus backwards flat on his back.  
  
Lucy shook her head and got to her feet for a stretch. "If you'd been grounded I couldn't have knocked you over."  
  
Her head started to hurt and she felt angry, far more angry than she should…. "For pity's sake Seamus, clamp it down! I know you're mad at me well enough without feeling it!"  
  
Seamus' face remained expressionless, but at once she felt his shields clamp down and the emotional leak stopped. She sighed. Part of this was her fault, she'd let him go off for the summer half trained, if she'd done a better job last year he wouldn't have slipped back with a more powerful gift than when he had left.  
  
"Sorry," he muttered.  
  
"It's fine, we'll try another way tomorrow, but I have to go now, I'm late for the B.A."  
  
"How are they coming?"  
  
"Fine. You ought to come sometime you know."  
  
"No thanks Luce. I told you, I'd just as rather fail in private thank you."  
  
Lucy didn't mention that teaching one session a day instead of two would be a big help, she didn't think Seamus was really in a mood to hear it, again, right now. She sighed, rolled her eyes, and grabbed her satchel from the sofa on her way out of the empty common room.  
  
She made for the wall facing the portrait hole, farther down, near the corner, and just before the last painting, took a breath, muttered the word 'Godric',and walked through. She'd been doing this for several weeks, but it didn't feel any less strange as she found herself in the stairway. She quickly sprinted down and burst through the door, to find the rest of Barbarians Anonymous already there.  
  
Rasheph was sitting in a chair near the fire, his feet on the table, while Lynx and Bet were standing in the middle, with the rest of the furniture pushed back, with Bet repeatedly tossing what appeared to be the oldest, most ragged Quaffle in the world into the air. Lynx would screw up his face and try to stop it before it hit the ground. He was averaging two out of every five tosses. They stopped when Lucy came in.  
  
"You're late."  
  
"And I'm hungry."  
  
"And I have to go to the bathroom."  
  
Lucy still hadn't got a word in edgewise before Bet went through the bookcase to the toilet and Lynx trotted out to the kitchens.  
  
Rasheph shrugged as Lucy sat crossed legged on the table.  
  
"I wasn't that late."  
  
"I think Lynx was just sore because he had been doing better before you got here."  
  
"Where'd the Quaffle come from?"  
  
"Bet brought it. Apparently some members of the Slytherin Quidditch team like to use them as teddy bears."  
  
"She said that?"  
  
"Can you think of any other reason for hanging on to a piece of junk like that?"  
  
Lucy shrugged, "Maybe it's the real Slytherin practice Quaffle, and Bet has decided to take out her anger at the sexist team recruiting practices by destroying it?"  
  
Rasheph grinned, "You know, I wouldn't put it past her. In a way I'm glad she's not on the Slytherin team, I wouldn't want to share the sky with her."  
  
That reminded Lucy that the first Quidditch match of the season was coming up, Gryffindor against Ravenclaw.  
  
She chuckled, "You might want to worry about getting through Gryffindor first, the beaters this year are particularly, enthusiastic."  
  
Rasheph the Chaser shrugged, "I've been dodging bludgers since forever, I'll be fine, and our beaters are pretty damn good too you know."  
  
"Yeah, about that, you might want to tell them to take it easy on the little red headed chaser."  
  
"If she can't handle the heat she should get off the broomstick Lucy…"  
  
"Oh, she can handle it, that's one position you know how much being small can be an asset. No, I'm just saying that the first person to send a bludger her way might get a very unpleasant surprise."  
  
Rasheph raised an eyebrow, Lucy shook her head. "Its all I'm saying, but, well, think about what you might do if Anjali were older and up there, hmmm?"  
  
He nodded and thought about that as Bet and Lynx returned, the bleached haired boy carrying an enormous sandwich. Bet was looking at him in disgust.  
  
"I don't know how you can eat that…"  
  
"Its good!"  
  
The dark haired girl didn't say a thing, but took a seat as far from Lynx as possible. Lucy slid off the table and into a chair.  
  
"Any new business?"  
  
Rasheph raised his hand, but his face had that tight, serious expression that told Lucy he didn't want to say exactly what.  
  
"Another dream?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
"Did any of your roommates wake up?"  
  
He shook his head, and a little smile appeared on his face. "Not a one."  
  
"Good, um, we'll work on that more later. Anything else?"  
  
Lynx looked up guiltily.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I got really angry after potions today, Snape was being a complete twit…"  
  
"And?"  
  
"And I knocked some first year's books out of his hands?"  
  
Bet stared at him, "Why did you do that?"  
  
Lynx rolled his eyes. "I didn't hit him! He was at the other side of the hall, I just…"  
  
"Lost control." Lucy sighed, Lynx was one of the more dangerous of the four, especially since he had the same control problem that Lucy struggled with.  
  
"Don't worry, we'll fix it soon." She hoped she sounded more confidant than she felt.  
  
"Well," Bet shrugged, "I've been fine." She grinned, Bet really did have it easy. Her position was exactly reversed from the one she would have been in had she been in a Western Circle school. There it was usually the thought sensing and projecting gifts that gave the most trouble since the students were in the middle of a concentrated group of people communicating mind to mind. But here, since Lucy was the only one with telepathy, and she was shielded so tightly it gave her headaches, Bet's gift had little interference in her daily life.  
  
"Well la-de-da," Lynx rolled his eyes.  
  
Lucy gave him a look. "All right, why don't you two work on the exercises I showed you last time and I'll work with Lynx."  
  
"Take cover!" Rasheph shouted merrily, Lynx scowled.  
  
"Not funny."  
  
"Come on." Lucy led Lynx over to the cleared out space in the middle of the room, while Rasheph and Bet calmed their minds and worked on breathing exercises in front of the fire.  
  
Lucy set a pillow down on the floor, and sat across from Lynx with it in between.  
  
"Pick it up."  
  
Lynx wrinkled his forehead, screwed his face up tight, staring intently at the pillow. Nothing.  
  
"You're trying too hard. Stop trying to make it do anything and concentrate on picking it up."  
  
When his face began to turn red Lucy realized he still didn't understand.  
  
"Stop. All right, hands on mine, I'm going to show you again."  
  
They were crossed legged, facing each other, Lucy's hands resting palm up on her knees, Lynx lightly grasped her wrists and carefully opened his mind up to watch Lucy. It had taken two weeks to get him to do that without hurting her.  
  
She tried to show him clearly how she focused her energy on the telekinesis channel, her bright red aura of energy flowing through it, and how she commanded that power to reach out to the pillow, lifting it three feet above the floor before she shut off the flow and the pillow dropped.  
  
"Try it."  
  
They were still working in tandem, and Lynx fumbled his way through as Lucy showed him wordlessly where he needed to lift from. Forty-five minutes later, a light sheen of sweat on their foreheads, Lynx was doing it flawlessly.  
  
"Ok, come out of it." Lynx carefully retreated out of Lucy's head and they opened their eyes. Lynx was breathing a little heavier than normal, but looked happy and proud.  
  
"Tomorrow you'll do it on your own without my eyes." Lynx nodded and headed toward the fire. Lucy groaned, flopped back on her back and spread out her arms. "Next!" 


	6. Chapter Six: Strange Things Are Happenin...

1 Chapter Six: Strange Things Are Happening To Me  
  
"…And then, just as Jackson said it, Professor Snape came around the corner! I thought he was going to pass out!"  
  
"Well I hope Snape got a good long listen, that man…. oh sorry, and then?"  
  
"Oh, well Kelsey started crying and we had to take her to the girls toilet to calm her down and convince her that she wasn't going to be expelled."  
  
"Yeah, and in the meantime the rest of us had to go into class and brave the Look."  
  
"Oh Parker, trust me, I know what that feels like."  
  
"He calls me Chester. Not even McGonagall is that mean."  
  
Parker punctuated his frustration by tossing a rock into the air and watching it fall to the ground several stories below. They were sitting on the Hufflepuff roof, in the middle of the doorway leading to the outer roof, their legs stretched out on the sun-warmed slates. Technically, they weren't on the roof, which Parker and Marguerite weren't allowed to do until after the winter holidays, and Lucy was enjoying the fresh air as well as catching up with the ever-entertaining lives of the first years.  
  
"Any news from home Parker?" Lucy watched the boy cautiously to see how he was handling the situation. But he seemed unaffected, thankfully.  
  
"Mum is keeping me updated as much as she can. She's sending as many jumpers as she can knit, convinced that the standard Ministry issue won't keep her babies warm. Lil says it's embarrassing. Arthur seems really glad to be there, even though he's younger than Lillian by three years, he still felt strange being at home and having his sister at the front lines. He's actually worried now that he might get pulled home."  
  
"Why? Are they bringing people back? What about Azkaban?"  
  
Parker grimaced, "I don't think I was supposed to say anything about that. Well, since I've already blurted it… Lil heard around her unit that they are concerned that Azkaban finally showing its hand was a decoy, a way to divert the Ministry's attention from its own borders to the world outside. They think now that maybe while all their efforts were concentrated somewhere else was when the other side made their move to… I don't know really, infiltrate?"  
  
Marguerite shook her head. "They couldn't have. The Minister stepped up security here, that's why I had to carry those stupid papers. Anyone from abroad coming couldn't have so much as a blemish on their record."  
  
Parker shrugged. "It beats me. But someone in the Ministry realized that this whole campaign was beginning to smell like the proverbial red herring, so now there is talk of sending a portion of the forces back."  
  
"And the island?"  
  
"That's the strange part. Lil and Arthur both heard that while the Ministry as a whole has no plans of abandoning it, that some very influential people are dead set against continuing the effort."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"They didn't say."  
  
Lucy had an idea though. The younger students were too new to realize, but the older ones knew exactly how important a man Albus Dumbledore was in politics. And if there was someone who was brave enough to stand against the wind and ask for the impossible and unreasonable, it was probably him. And he probably had good reason.  
  
There was silence for a while as they stared out into the late afternoon sun. Then Lucy remembered something she had been meaning to ask about.  
  
"Marguerite, do you know Belle Bedford?"  
  
"The Gryffindor?"  
  
"Mmmhmm."  
  
"A little, we've got Transfiguration at the same time. Not really a social class, you know McGonagall. She's pretty good though, catches on faster than most."  
  
"Has she seemed upset lately?"  
  
"Yeah, for a while I mostly just remember her looking sad. Kind of lonely. But for the past week or so, she's perked up, got sort of a little honor guard around her in the halls, I've seen them on their way down to the dungeons, why?"  
  
"Oh, she was having a hard time, I gave our prefect some advice on dealing with her, I was wondering if it worked."  
  
Apparently it had.  
  
"Well," Lucy said as she dusted herself off, "I better get back to MY potions assignment or all have to brave the Look myself."  
  
"I'd better go too, there's a quiz in History of Magic tomorrow and I always get my goblins mixed up."  
  
Parker sighed and got to his feet, "Well, since you're all being virtuous, I think I'll go down too, and see if anyone fancies a game of Exploding Snap."  
  
The girls looked at each other and rolled their eyes, boys, honestly, and went downstairs. As Lucy was coming around a bend in the staircase, she noticed something on the wall that she hadn't before. Leaving a puzzled Marguerite, she turned away from the fireplace exit and headed towards a pair of bright yellow candles that burned on either side of a broomstick mounted against the wall. Behind the broomstick a yellow Quidditch robe was hung reverently, neatly pressed and with no traces of dust upon it. She scanned the wall for an explanation and found one in the small brass plaque attached to the middle of the broom handle.  
  
"Remember Cedric Diggory."  
  
"Cedric's monument," a voice from behind her, a little thick with emotion, explained. "We decided against a portrait. It would have to be painted from memory, and the idea of Cedric smiling at people and moving around…it was just too soon to think about. Maybe someday, in a hall, but not in here."  
  
Lucy nodded and investigated the candles as Lynx stood patiently beside her.  
  
"And the candles…."  
  
"Enchanted, never go out, never burn down."  
  
Kind of like the flame at Espiritu, Lucy thought.  
  
"Did you know him?"  
  
"Me? Not too well, I was just a third year. But he was pretty nice to me, and I was a real pain. It was more of a kind of shock that hit me when it happened, hit everyone really."  
  
"Who designed it?"  
  
"The Quidditch team, and Cho Chang, she had the idea, since no one really wanted a picture. I think it was pretty cathartic for her."  
  
Lucy nodded.  
  
"So, um, how are you doing, any problems today?"  
  
"Nope," he grinned, "No unauthorized flying objects for a whole week, even when I took a bludger in the stomach yesterday during practice."  
  
"Good for you."  
  
"Now, I'd better go, I've got an essay for McGonagall due tomorrow and I have another foot left. I'll see you at the match Saturday, right?"  
  
Lucy grinned. "You bet."  
  
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Lucy spent most of Friday night writing an epic letter to Diego, having realized that whatever they were making him do in the desert was leaving him with barely enough energy to spit, let alone work a mirror spell. She'd been writing it in small doses in the free time she really didn't have, and as she dated the next entry she was surprised to realize it was only October. So much had happened… she finally sealed it off with her mastery ring, the smooth surface leaving no physical design, but an unmistakable magical signature. Then she grabbed her bottle of Rosa's Cure All Muscle Relieving Ointment and trotted downstairs to loan it to Seamus, who's shoulder was still smarting from an accident in practice Wednesday; she had promised to rub some of it on the joint before bed.  
  
The entire team was under orders from the co-captains to get to sleep early, so Seamus, Harry, Ron, and the rest were in bed by ten, leaving Lucy sitting on the sofa, her hands smelling strongly of spices and mint, trying to rub off the excess ointment. Lavender was curled up in a chair, dangling a small crystal on a chain in the moonlight. Lavender really was exceptional in Divination, Parvati was very good as well, although it seemed her real talent was reading people, not tea, whereas when Lucy compared Lavender to some of the mediums she had met before, the fascination with Professor Trelawny's awful room made sense. Hermione was absorbed in a positively ancient book that looked to be falling apart, and judging from the way she was trying to hide the cover, was probably from the restricted section. Parvati was nowhere in sight, and that meant she was probably out with her latest boyfriend and would be sneaking back in in a couple of hours.  
  
With nothing else to do, Lucy went back to her room and began to rummage about in her trunks. That was where she stumbled upon her old notebook, where she had been making notes and conjectures about the work she was doing in Don Asriel's workroom the previous term. As she read back over her theories and ideas, she felt a guilty stab in the heart. She hadn't worked on this at all this term. Here she was, one of two people in the world that believed that the impossible could happen, and the only one with the time and resources to find out how to do it, and she had forgotten all about it. What kind of love and loyalty to her school was that?  
  
She sighed and sat crossed legged on her bed, determined to catch herself up and return to the workroom tomorrow, sometime between the quidditch match and the BA meeting. She fell asleep in her clothes and woke up when Parvati knocked over a stack of books off her trunk. As Lucy helped her into bed she could smell the homemade wine on her breath, and realized just why Snape kept such a paranoid eye on his distillation equipment.  
  
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It was drizzling when Gryffindor awoke, and the rain was steady all through breakfast. Harry kept glancing up from where he was seated at the end of the table with the rest of the team, towards the enchanted ceiling, dark and grey, but not storming, yet. Ron was eating, which was a good sign, but he seemed to be arguing with Ginny, who wasn't really touching her food or giving Ron a satisfactory answer. Seamus looked and emotionally felt normal to Lucy from where she sat farther down with Hermione and the girls.  
  
**Feeling ready to crack open the skulls of unsuspecting chasers?**  
  
**You really give me no credit, do you?**  
  
**Well, you did pick THE most violent position. What do you think that reveals about you're inner self?**  
  
**That my inner self likes to kick a little ass.**  
  
**Now why don't they put that on Valentines….**  
  
**Ha ha, I'd be more worried about Ron pulling a rabid-big-brother- protective-maneuver up there if I were you.**  
  
**Do try and make him behave himself. It will embarrass Ginny.**  
  
**Yeah, and probably embarrass Dumbledore to have to write to a student's parents that he died playing Quidditch. But lets keep things in perspective here.**  
  
**I'm not worried. Ten to one Ginny knocks Ron off his broom before he can do any real damage.**  
  
**He's pretty protective…**  
  
**I remain firm in my resolve.**  
  
**Put your money where your mouth is Montero.**  
  
**You know I don't have any.** This wasn't a call for pity, Seamus knew her lack of money didn't bother her.  
  
**Oh yeah, sorry. Well then, lets see, loser has to buy the next round of butterbeer in Hogsmeade, think you can cover that?**  
  
**Any day, but, like I said, I won't have to.**  
  
**Those be fighting words…**  
  
**Too bad you have to go then, isn't it?**  
  
Seamus looked up to see the rest of the team getting up and heading back to the tower to change and go out to warm up. He turned back to see Lucy grinning and gesturing for him to run along after them.  
  
**Good luck.**  
  
**Thanks.**  
  
**And go easy on the Indian chaser!**  
  
His mind was already focused on the game and Lucy got no response.  
  
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The wind had picked up as Lucy, Hermione, Neville, and the rest of the school made their way out to the pitch. The house pennants and field flags snapped smartly in the breeze, and Lucy shuddered to think what kinds of updrafts were being created high above the field. The rain was the same as at breakfast, no more, no less, which was probably a good thing.  
  
They took seats near the rail; from this vantage Lucy could see the team amassing in the Gryffindor team 'dugout', high above the field. She'd seen Rasheph warming up on the ground before, and saw a glimpse of his dark head whispering to Aysha, a chaser from South Africa, before she was distracted by the announcements.  
  
With Lee gone, everyone had simply supposed that the next announcer would have to be from one of the other houses, and Lucy still wasn't sure how McGonagall had swung getting another Gryffindor in the spot again. However, no one objected to her choice of Aluicious Javenson, a third year with long white-blond hair known to everyone in the tower and most of the castle as 'Al.' Even Professor McGonagall was inclined to use that name for him in class, although Snape dearly loved to hiss "Aluicious, please demonstrate, if you can," during his lessons.  
  
Al had been on the team last year, a new member, as an alternate keeper. For his age he was incredibly good and got more game time than most first year alternates. However, last year's team would go down in Gryffindor's record books as the most injury plagued group ever, and Al didn't escape what Dean had stared to call, 'the curse.' Generally bludgers didn't go after the keeper, most beaters from the opposing team focused on gaining possession of the quaffle, and then protecting their chasers. However, Al was good, really good, and because of that, he became a target. He'd had the bones of his left hand broken twice by November. And although Madam Pomfrey could heal them easily, there are some things the body just isn't designed to take. He had to relearn his muscle memory every time, and when his hand was hit by two bludgers consecutively in a playoff match last spring, the damage was permanent. He could still write and fly, but his grip on the broom and his control would never recover.  
  
Thanks be to the little gods for small favors, Al was not planning on playing professionally in the future. Both his parents were doctors and he intended to practice as well. It was, however, hard for him to let the game go, especially since his father, mother, grandmother and great uncle were all keepers for their respective houses when they were in school. McGonagall knew this, knew Al was a bright student as well as a top quid player, which was rare enough, and had a keen grasp of the principles of the game. She invited him to fill in Lee's old position, which Al jumped at, while the head of Gryffindor house desperately hoped for a little more decorum in this steady young man whom half the third years and below were madly in love with.  
  
She was pulled back to the event at hand as Al began to announce the Gryffindor team and she stood to cheer with her house as they flew out onto the field. Harry wore the same tense, unreadable expression he always had during a match, Ron was all concentration and business, Seamus was flying close to him, having a last minute discussion, but he managed to toss a wink her way as he flew by. She fought the urge to crack a joke at that moment, he made her promise not to "talk" to him during the match, it was distracting. Ginny was grinning as she circled the pitch for the first time as a part of the team, and managed a nervous wave at Hermione before falling into position.  
  
As Ravenclaw team took their places Lucy saw Harry watch Cho, although it was difficult to understand what he was thinking. Rasheph made a sharp turn near her end of the stands, waggling his eyebrows at her before heading back in. Lucy rolled her eyes and tried to appear unimpressed instead of laughing out loud.  
  
Half an hour later they were tied 20-20, and every goal and been well fought for. Lucy though she could spy Harry, a tiny spot high above the field, circling near another spot which she assumed was Cho. Back closer to earth she saw a flash of red go by, Ginny, with the quaffle. They were on their feet, Ginny had been passing, but hadn't made a run all game. As she lowered her broom to dodge a pack of Ravenclaw chasers she emerged virtually free of any serious threat all the way to the goal posts. That was when a bludger whistled over her right shoulder, startling the new player, causing her to veer off to the left and drop the quaffle, where it was picked up by a Ravenclaw. Lucy scanned the field, where were the beaters? Why weren't they on Ginny? She saw Seamus knocking the other bludger towards Aysha, the Ravenclaw chaser, but she didn't see Ron until she heard Hermione moan, "Oh no…don't be an idiot, don't be an idiot, please Ron don't be an idiot…"  
  
She looked and saw Ron speeding towards the Ravenclaw beater that had sent the bludger at Ginny.  
  
"Lucy," Hermione pleaded, "Can't you distract him?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Do something before he gets himself thrown off the team, that was a legal play, he can't pick a fight over it!"  
  
Lucy nodded and without another moment lost grounded and centered herself, pulled on the biggest energy source she could find, the web of energies that ran under Hogwarts, fought off a bought of nausea, and used the energy to alter the wind pattern, sending a huge gust towards Ron, knocking him far off his intended path and forcing him to fight with his broom. Seamus looked over at what was going on, and when he looked past Ron to Lucy, he saw her trying to get his attention.  
  
**What's wrong?**  
  
**You better do something before Ron gets himself tossed, that's what, he's still seeing red and I can't keep him occupied the whole time if we want to win.**  
  
She saw but didn't hear Seamus swear and begin shouting at Ron, who had gained control of his broom once again. As they charged toward Ethan to deflect the bludgers being aimed at the pale, dark haired boy, Lucy saw Seamus tap Ron on his arm with his club, and from the look in his eyes it appeared that Ron understood. Which was good since the time they had taken had enabled Ravenclaw to score.  
  
It was a close match all the way, and Lucy was glad Hermione had taught Harry the spell to deflect rain off his glasses, because it became worse and worse as the game went on. It had been 90 minutes when a red streak shot down from the sky, Harry, with a yellow one close behind. It looked like he was after the snitch. The stands were on their feet as he pulled closer to earth, and then suddenly pulled out of the dive, made a dangerously sharp turn back the way he'd been and with a burst of speed shot forward twenty meters and stopped. He had the snitch. It really was a nice bit of strategy, he knew he was better in the dive than Cho, she was a more aggressive tailer, so knowing she'd follow, he'd made the dive, seeing the Snitch, and knowing she wouldn't recover fast enough to tail him to it and be a threat. If Cho had been a better diver, or had seen the snitch first, it would have been a damn fool move.  
  
Gryffindors, in typical fashion, were ignoring the rain and storming the field. Lucy followed along in the wake, pushing her way to the front to witness Ginny being picked up by a boy she did not know, causing the youngest Weasly to blush furiously. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were in one happy circle, as usual. Lucy scanned the crowed for Seamus and saw him over to the right analyzing the game with Dean.  
  
"You had some nice goals Dean."  
  
"Thanks Lucy, I'm just glad we got through the whole game without anyone getting injured."  
  
"Certainly was a miracle," Seamus said casually, giving Lucy a Look. She shook her head and grinned.  
  
"You look like a couple of drowned rats. Take a shower and get into some dry clothes before you do get sick and risk Harry killing you."  
  
"What? You don't want to get wet, oh no! Look what I did!" What Seamus had just done was engulf Lucy in an enormous bear hug, soaking her cloak and most of the shirt underneath.  
  
Lucy punched him and kicked until he let go, and she moved away in time to see lightening streak the sky.  
  
"That's my cue to head for cover, us desert types really don't do well with this much rain. I'll see you in the common room, it'll be wild I'm sure."  
  
"Hell, I'm counting on it!" Dean grinned and pulled Seamus off towards Ethan and some of the other team members. Lucy trotted off towards the castle. She was tempted to go talk to Rasheph, but she's seen the players last year after a loss, and she didn't think right now was a good time to talk about his need for an extra tutorial this week; although his shielding really needed to happen faster.  
  
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The month of October didn't exactly exist for Lucy, it came and it went. In between the now almost thrice weekly gatherings of the B.A., keeping Seamus in check, catching up on her reading and experimenting in Don Asriel's workroom, keeping and eye on the firsties, and completing the rest of her normal school work, Lucy didn't have much time to come up for air. Letters from Diego were usually brief and complaint filled, he really did despise camels; Lucy thought it was because one had spit on his head when he was younger and he had never really forgiven the species as a whole.  
  
But the members of the B.A. began to form a nice little dysfunctional family. No one else was ever let in on the existence of the organization, and if the headmaster had any inkling of what was going on deep in the castle, he never showed his hand. Lucy's work was beginning to get easier after the second month, she had found notebooks in Asriel's trunks on training gifts, and without explaining where she had gotten them, had put them on a shelf in the B.A. room. Now members could teach themselves. Bet had suggested and everyone else had agreed that they all keep notebooks about their training. Mostly they just documented their observations, comparisons to Hogwarts magic that they found made learning a little easier. Bet seemed convinced there would be more like them popping up in the future, and having some instruction around from a Hogwarts perspective would help them along. They kept those in the room as well, Lucy didn't think it was worth the risk of someone finding them to take them back to their rooms.  
  
What was also helping to lighten the load was that the newcomers were growing by leaps and bounds at helping each other. So sessions gradually evolved from two students working on breathing exercises while Lucy trained the third to two simultaneous work sessions. This also meant that if at some point Lucy couldn't make a meeting, she was confidant progress would be made in her absence. Because every now and then she really did just need some time to herself. She reminded herself daily, in addition to Diego's not so gentle reminders, that she had done this to herself; she didn't regret it, but she was also sacrificing time she should have been spending working on her masters thesis due in January. These things took months to prepare, and she was surprised to find she had let her focus down; it wasn't like her.  
  
Which was how she found herself reverting to more and more free time being spent in the workroom. She had decided over the summer to combine her continued research with her thesis project to save time; the topic might be highly controversial for the council, especially as a first thesis, but it was the only way to make her life work at the moment. She wiped her ink stained fingers on the sleeve of her robe and stared in irritation at the sloppy quality of notes she was taking on a particularly involved set of experiments Asriel had been conducting to determine if a stable gate threshold could be established in a portable object; like crossing a permanent gate with a portkey. It appeared that the Adept himself had been confused about it, so Lucy had to work through his mistakes as well as fixing her own. She couldn't test this until she was absolutely sure she had it right.  
  
A beeping caused her to pull out her watch, Diego's old pocket watch actually, and notice that she was going to be late to dinner if she didn't pack up immediately. She didn't want people asking questions about where she'd been so she scrambled about, packing the books she wanted into her pack and resetting the guards on the room before dashing down the hall and back to Gryffindor Tower.  
  
She emerged from her room just as the whole mess of them came marching out, only to find herself pulled out of the stair traffic by slightly sweaty hand. It was Neville.  
  
"This was in the report this month, there's a note for you from Dr. Alexander, and another from Fizzit, and a longer letter sealed up from Jerome. I figured you'd want to read the progress report anyway." He was holding out a thick parchment envelope full of documents with the St. Mungo's seal at the top.  
  
Lucy nodded and accepted the package that held the quarterly progress reports on Ann and Henry Longbottom that Neville had been receiving directly since he was in fourth year. "Is anything wrong?"  
  
Neville shook his head. "They didn't sound worried. And so far there hasn't been any backsliding, so I think that's a good thing. You were right about Dr. Alexander, by the way, I think he understands them a lot better."  
  
Lucy nodded and flipped through to the page she was most interested. There it was, Henry Longbottom's dosage, he was down another two spells from what he had been on at the beginning of July when she left. They had put him back on the nocturnal sedatives though, but she supposed that was because Lucy wasn't there to take responsibility for the nightmares that came without them, and it was unfair to ask an orderly to do it. He was on less pain medication though, which meant he must be less violent. She looked up to see Neville's concerned face.  
  
"Everything looks good Neville. The total dosage is down on your dad, did you see that?"  
  
He nodded and sighed. "I can never keep all the names of the restraining spells straight. I know the major ones, and he's still on Perkesetitus, but I was afraid they had reduced the number but given him more powerful ones or something."  
  
Lucy shook her head. "Its good progress from as much as I know, and Dr. Alex is smart, he knows which combinations will give the least amount of side effects."  
  
"Good, I just wanted you to check it over. They send me these things, but no one ever explains anything, I had to figure them all out for myself. Grandmother always just put them in a drawer."  
  
Lucy smiled, Neville was certainly more than he looked. "I'll read over it later and tell you if I see anything interesting, and I'll see you at dinner." Neville nodded and hurried down the stairs as Lucy returned to her room to drop off the Longbottom package.  
  
And in time to see Hermione locking something in her trunk.  
  
Hermione never locked her trunk.  
  
"Que pasa?" Lucy gave her a measured look.  
  
Hermione matched the stare then rolled her eyes. "Nothing. Honestly Lucy, just because things are quiet around here doesn't give you a right to go looking for a problem."  
  
"I never said anything about a problem, what problem?"  
  
Hermione groaned and shook her head. "Just, drop it Lucy, ok?"  
  
Lucy shrugged as Hermione swept out of the room for dinner. Something was rotten in the state of Gryffindor, but she wasn't about to trigger the anti- alohamora traps Hermione had on her trunk, so she let it be and went to eat.  
  
The usual dinner din was interrupted by the headmaster to make an announcement about the Halloween Feast in two days, which was featuring a concert by Savage Garden Gnomes. This was met with cheers. But Lucy, as well as most of the older students had their interest peaked, not by the announcement, but by the man sitting between Dumbledore and Professor Claudius, the new Defense Against Dark Arts Professor who spoke with an outrageous German accent. The man was new, dressed in what were obviously very expensive, designer business robes, he could have been the Minister of Magic himself. Hermione looked at Lucy, who raised her eyebrows, shook her head and turned to Seamus, who did the same and looked at Harry. Before long they had silently confirmed that no one knew who the man was.  
  
***Bet, do you know who the man next to Dumbledore is?***  
  
She got a faint **No.** which was as far as Bet could manage.  
  
There was nothing to be done then but puzzle over it as they ate their dessert.  
  
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"He's kind of creepy looking."  
  
"Maybe he just needs to meet with Dumbledore, you know they still consult him."  
  
"And don't listen to a damn word he says."  
  
"Maybe the've seen the error of their ways."  
  
"I doubt it."  
  
"You think this has anything to do with this?"  
  
It was the afternoon of the 30th of October, and the BA wasn't getting much done besides confirm that they had all seen the creepy man at dinner. Lynx was perusing the Daily Prophet, and pointed to an article at the top of the second page. "Ministry Reports Missing Documents."  
  
Bet leaned forward, "Well, read it."  
  
"Several departments within the Ministry of Magic have begun to report certain documents missing. The majority of documents were reported missing from files dealing with wizard immigration and naturalization, as well as a significant amount over the recent British Wizard Census. While Ministry officials are quick to report that nothing top secret has been stolen and that all defense documents are still held in safety, this breach in security is a source of major concern at this delicate point. The Ministry is interviewing workers throughout each department, but at the moment there are no known suspects."  
  
"And you think they sent someone out here for that?"  
  
  
  
Lynx shrugged, "Maybe they want to hide stuff at Hogwarts, its one of the safest places around, isn't it?"  
  
Rasheph nodded. Lucy shrugged. They sat in silence until Lynx had to go to practice and Rasheph to a conditioning session.  
  
When Lucy got back to the tower there was a small crowed gathered around the wall near the portrait hole. Lucy tried to push her way through, but there were too many people. She stood back and waited for it to clear, when she felt a touch on her shoulder, it was Seamus.  
  
"What is that? Is there a Hogsmeade weekend or something?"  
  
Seamus shook his head. "Lucy, you didn't, well, do anything, did you?"  
  
"Do what?"  
  
"Did you try and kill Snape again?"  
  
"No, not like I wasn't tempted, but… why are you asking me that?"  
  
By then the crowd had moved away, and Lucy moved forward to read the parchment posted on the wall.  
  
"The Following Students are to Report to the Great Hall at Nine O'clock, tomorrow morning:  
  
Ginger Chao  
  
Alessandra Dicus  
  
Shawanda Hall  
  
Nicholas Kornakovitch  
  
Svetlana Kornakovitch  
  
Warren Lane  
  
Wesley Lane  
  
William Lane  
  
Lucille Montero  
  
Maria Moray  
  
Karen Su  
  
Chandrika Sanji"  
  
Lucy shook her head, "What is this for?"  
  
Seamus sat down, "I don't know. From what Parvati said when she got back from Andrew's room, there's one just like it up in Ravenclaw, with a whole bunch of their students names."  
  
Lucy rubbed the goose bumps off her arms. "I don't like it. What is so important that they are going to pull us out if class? Why would Dumbledore allow it?"  
  
"I don't know. Are you going to go?"  
  
"Do I have a choice?"  
  
"Just promise me you won't do anything stupid."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Don't throw any cauldrons at people. Promise?"  
  
Lucy grinned and gave him a hug. "I'll try to control myself."  
  
"Will you try harder than usual?"  
  
Lucy rolled her eyes and went upstairs to start her homework. 


	7. Chapter Seven: Foolish Games

1 Chapter Seven: Foolish Games  
  
"Follow me."  
  
It was clear from the command that the assembled group of well over 50 students was to follow the stranger from dinner out of the Great Hall and down several hallways to a little used room Lucy had never seen. It looked like someone's old office, there was a large mahogany desk with a large chair behind it and two facing it, plenty of bookshelves, several leather sofas and armchairs with footstools, a fireplace, and no windows.  
  
"In you go please." The students did as they were told, and when they were all inside turned to face the as of yet still nameless man.  
  
"Take a seat if you would please, we will be with you momentarily."  
  
With that he turned and shut the door, and Lucy clearly heard the distinct sound of a lock and an anti-alohomora charm being set in place.  
  
The students turned around and looked at each other, sighed, and took a seat. Lucy noticed Marguerite tailing after Aysha, and waved. The small girl looked relieved and trotted over. By then all the good seats had been taken, so the two girls sat on top of the large desk.  
  
"Lucy, what's going on?"  
  
"Wish I knew. It looks like we just have to sit tight."  
  
"I don't like it."  
  
"Trust me Marguerite, neither do I."  
  
She liked it even less when an hour later a different stranger in expensive robes came in, locking the door behind him, and asked for their wands, which was more of a command than a request, and placed them inside the box. When one of the Lane boys asked why he was met with a piercing stare and an "Are we going to have a problem?"  
  
He put his wand in the box. They all put their wands in the box and watched as they were carried out of the room and the door locked again.  
  
That was when Lorenzo, a seventh year Hufflepuff, threw up his hands and shouted, "What the hell is going on!"  
  
"Well, I think that is pretty clear, don't you?" Said Audrey Su, Karen's big sister, a seventh year Ravenclaw.  
  
They looked at her, she sighed and turned to Lorenzo. "Where do you live?"  
  
"Florence."  
  
She turned to Aysha, "And you?"  
  
"Soweto."  
  
"Chandrika?"  
  
"New Delhi."  
  
"Vladimir?"  
  
"St. Petersburg."  
  
They went around, and it became very clear that the tie that bound was that no on in that room was born or lived within the boundaries of Great Britain. Every international student in Hogwarts was sitting in that room.  
  
Wesley Lane shook his head. "Is this more rubbish like those papers at the beginning of the year?"  
  
"Why on earth are they bothering with us? We're stuck here, its not like we can DO anything."  
  
"It's not like anything's happened."  
  
A heated discussion was springing up in the corner. Lucy left Marguerite, who wandered over to a pack of Ravenclaws, and sat down in an open gap in the circle.  
  
"I don't like it at all," said Aysha, "I don't see how Dumbledore would allow this in his school."  
  
"Well, its not like anything's being done to us Aysha, and we don't have to go to Potions."  
  
"Don't think you're getting out of the assignment Sergei, you know Snape as well as I."  
  
"Bastard…"  
  
Aysha shook her head. Lucy understood her fear. She was from South Africa, and knew exactly how separation of people based on differences could lead to much more serious problems.  
  
"So what do we do?"  
  
"We watch our backs, " piped up Nicholas Kornakovitch, a fifth year. "I mean, first the papers, now this, I think we have to watch what's going on very carefully.  
  
"They make me wear a gold star, I'm leaving," pouted William.  
  
"Maybe that's what they want us to do."  
  
"We have just as much a right to stay as anyone else."  
  
That much was true. Most of these students had at least one parent who had attended Hogwarts themselves. For reasons varying from career to health, they left the country; but they sent their children back to be educated at the same school they had attended in their youth. Or there were some, like Mr. and Mrs. Kornakovitch, who hadn't been happy with the way Durmstrongs was being run, and chose to send their children to a different school. But despite how they got there, all agreed that sequestering them, singling them out for whatever reason, was ludicrous.  
  
They were still in argument over what to do when the door opened, all fell silent, and all heads turned toward the sound of the bolt being pulled back.  
  
The stranger who had taken their wands had returned.  
  
"Maeve Abrams?" Maeve, a Hufflepuff prefect, who had attended primary school with the Lane boys in Canberra, stood up.  
  
"Please come with me."  
  
Wesley nodded at her and Maeve raised her chin and followed the stranger out of the room, the rest of the occupants waiting to hear the now familiar sound of being locked in.  
  
They waited in relative silence for the better part of half an hour, when the door was opened again, and Maeve returned. At the same time Lesley Arong, a third year Slytherin from Kiyoto, was called out, and she got a reassuring squeeze from the older Aussie girl as she left. It seemed that at this point house boundaries didn't matter much.  
  
The little group immediately converged on Maeve to hear what had happened. Maeve shrugged.  
  
"They just asked me questions, a LOT of questions."  
  
"What about?"  
  
"Everything. Some were normal, sort of. Had I ever been asked to bring a package into the country, had I ever been asked to send something out of the country, had something ever shown up in my trunk that I hadn't packed, that sort of thing. But then…"  
  
"What?"  
  
"They asked me if there were any unusual students at Hogwarts. I told him we were all pretty weird, and he didn't look happy. He asked if any students seemed to be out of the ordinary, like they didn't belong. It was like he was trying to get me to give somebody up or something. There was a lot of weird stuff, but that was the strangest part."  
  
Lucy tried not to let the feelings of apprehension show on her face. Strange students?  
  
They gave Maeve a break after that, and Lucy found Marguerite and they chatted for a while about what the other had been up to, and about Chester. Every half an hour the door would open, and one student would be swapped for another. At noon one of the strangers brought in a tray with water, pumpkin juice, and sandwiches. It seemed they were not being released to dine in the Great Hall with the rest of the student body. They sat in glum silence, nibbling away and wondering when they would ever be let out.  
  
About an hour after lunch most students began to doze off, there was little point in staying awake and worrying, not when it was pretty clear that there was no way out. Lucy couldn't sleep, but sat crossed legged on the desk while Marguerite was curled up on one of the sofas with about half a dozen other first years. How they fit Lucy could only imagine, but she was glad Marguerite was calm now, she had been terribly ruffled after they called her in for questioning.  
  
She was on point off nodding off herself when William Lane was returned and the stranger read off the name "Lucille Montero." She grumbled a bit as she got to her feet, caught a wink from the blond Australian boy, grinned, and then scowled at the strange man as she was led out.  
  
They didn't go very far. Lucy was led down the hall and into the next room. Although she furtively glanced about for any students, there were none in sight. She sighed and tried to keep her face expressionless as she entered a room not unlike the one she had just left, although much smaller. There was a chair in the middle of the room which one of the men gestured for her to sit in. If she hadn't been so nervous, she would have laughed at the similarity of the situation to bad police dramas on television, which she and Diego had spent many nights that summer making fun of.  
  
"Your name?"  
  
Lucy looked at the first man to speak as if he was crazy.  
  
"What? You know my name, you just called it!"  
  
The man sighed and indicated the enchanted pen on the desk, which appeared to be writing down every word spoken. Lucy strained enough to see that her interrogator's words were in blue ink, and hers in red.  
  
She sighed. "Lucy Montero."  
  
"You're school?"  
  
"Hogwarts." She saw the shadow flicker across his face, but hers remained expressionless. She wasn't giving anything personal out as long as she could.  
  
"Who is your guardian?"  
  
"I am currently in the care of the headmaster."  
  
"But who decides where you go for holidays, vacations?"  
  
"I do."  
  
"It says here in your file you are in the guardianship of your school."  
  
"Yes, and since the head of this school is Albus Dumbledore, he would be in charge, wouldn't he?"  
  
She wasn't going to tell them a damn thing more about Espiritu than she absolutely had to.  
  
"Where are your parents?"  
  
"Dead."  
  
"I'm sorry," he didn't sound like it, and Lucy didn't buy his look of sympathy for one second. "How did they die?"  
  
"They died at work."  
  
"What did they do?"  
  
"They were pilots."  
  
"Were they in the military?"  
  
"No, they flew commercial jets."  
  
"Yes, thank you. And after their death, who took charge of you?"  
  
"The state, that's what happens in America when you're an orphan."  
  
"Did you have any brothers or sisters?"  
  
"No. And why is this important?"  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"I want to know why you are asking me this?"  
  
"For your own safety, for the safety of every wizard."  
  
"I fail to see how the safety of anyone is going to be protected by analyzing my parents' deaths or my childhood."  
  
"That's because you are too young to understand. Now, how long have you been in this country?"  
  
"Since the first of September."  
  
"When were you last in the country before then?"  
  
"The second of July."  
  
"And last year was your first year at this school?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Why did you come so late in your education?"  
  
"I have no idea, you'll have to ask Professor Dumbledore, he knows more about that than I do."  
  
"What were you doing here between the end of term and July 2nd?"  
  
"I was working."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"At St. Mungo's Hospital."  
  
"Doing what?"  
  
"Whatever the staff thought I could do that was useful." That wasn't exactly a lie.  
  
The questions went on in a similar vein for a while, concerning who Lucy met when she traveled, had she ever seen any suspicious people, had anyone tried to get her to transport things, and questions of the like. Then,  
  
"Lucy, have you ever noticed strange students?"  
  
"Have you had a look at Draco Malfoy? He's pretty damn strange."  
  
"Not what I meant. Have you noticed students with strange abilities?"  
  
"Well, most of the Ravenclaws are uncommonly smart, the Hufflepuffs uncommonly good, and the Slytherins are uncommonly obnoxious, well, most of them anyway."  
  
The man gave her a Look. "Anything else?"  
  
"The Gryffindors usually get in an uncommon amount of trouble."  
  
"Lucy, have you ever seen students with abilities you've never seen before? Students doing spells without wands, that can make things happen just by thinking about them?"  
  
"Well, if they could do that then I don't suppose I would be able to tell them apart from ordinary people, could I?"  
  
The man did not seem happy.  
  
"Where did you go to school before you came here, Lucy?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Pardon?"  
  
"I fail to see how my education in primary school or any other year is important to national or wizardal, or any other type of security."  
  
"Never you mind that, just tell us."  
  
"No, I don't see why that is any of your business."  
  
"You wouldn't understand."  
  
"Try me. Give me one good reason why this interrogation is anything better than a witch-hunt, no pun intended. If you tell me what you are looking for than maybe I can help you and save you some time. But as it is, I don't see how my personal circumstances are of any use to you."  
  
He stared at her and she had stared right back.  
  
"Get her out of here."  
  
With that, Lucy was led back to the rest of the students to sit and stew over whether what she had just done was extremely intelligent, or very stupid.  
  
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"Aren't they ever gonna let us out of here?" Maria Moray of Pretoria flopped down on the couch next to Aysha and pouted. Again. The older girl sighed and squeezed her shoulder, getting up so the second year could lie down.  
  
Lucy was still sitting on the desk, although she had learned not to swing her feet back and forth anymore, as this caused a thud thud sound that had driven the rest of the company dangerously close to killing her. It had been at least two hours since the last of them had been interrogated, and the Halloween Feast was well underway. This caused particular pains for the Lane boys, all of whom, so it seemed, were big Savage Garden Gnomes fans.  
  
"They have to feed us soon at any rate."  
  
"Maybe they forgot about that."  
  
"What if we have to spend the night?"  
  
"I get the couch!" This accomplished little since at least fifteen people shouted at once. Lucy flopped onto her back on the desk. It was getting really hot in here. She had tried earlier to talk to Seamus, but he was still limited to line of sight in terms of telepathy, and she hadn't been able to get through. And she wasn't as good at talking through emotions as he or Diego, so she had given up trying to make contact for now and had focused on trying to sleep. Marguerite had been out for hours, and was the envy of many of the others locked in that room.  
  
Sleep wasn't so easy for Lucy, so she resorted to another less savory means of occupying her time, eavesdropping. There was something about telepathy that made it easier for you to consciously extend the boundaries of your own hearing, she supposed it had something to do with quieting your mind and your breathing. And with the size of the room they were in, she had several main targets.  
  
Students had divided up either by house or by country. There was a large group of Australians in the far corner around an armchair and an ottoman, but they were talking loud enough for anyone to hear anyway, and mostly it was about Quidditch; and Lucy had had about as much as she could take of THAT sport. There was a large group of Hufflepuffs around the fireplace, half napping and half speaking softly. There was a small knot of older Ravenclaws on the far wall near the door, writing on the floorboards. Lucy recognized a few of them from the Advanced Arithmancy class that met right before her Ancient Runes lesson; they had a year long project to discover some new type of algorithm, and apparently were wasting no time. A few minutes of them gave her a headache and she quickly looked elsewhere. There was more talk of Quidditch and complaining from the Gryffindors a few feet from the desk, although most of the younger ones had dropped off and the others were in the process of dropping off. Karen Su had brought the small wizard chess set she was never without along with her, so there was something of a tournament going on between the Italians and the Japanese off to the side, and from the look of it Lucy guessed money was on the line.  
  
The only group left to listen to was the Slytherins. Those not involved in the chess match occupied the corner opposite the door in a small, close huddle. And while most of them were asleep, those awake were highly agitated.  
  
"I don't see the difference, if we miss, we miss."  
  
"I think this qualifies as extenuating circumstances Vlad."  
  
"Misha, have you ever missed one?"  
  
"Well, no, I have my whole savings tied up in this thing. I don't know how I would tell my father…"  
  
"You couldn't! Don't you know anything? No telling anyone. You lose, you take the fall on your own. Come on, you've read that stupid thing by the fireplace, 'take responsibility for yourself'. There's no way you can try to bring the rest of us down with you."  
  
"Vlad, he never said he was going to tell anyone, did you Misha?"  
  
"No, and thanks for the vote of confidence, comrade. It's nice to know that in a tough spot I can count on my dear friend Katrina to stand up for me."  
  
"Don't hide behind Katya. The fact is you need to get used to the idea that you're going to lose a little."  
  
"I don't recall asking for your opinion."  
  
"Hey, I'm as deep in this as you are. And lets just all be happy that THAT is not what those guys were asking about, hey?"  
  
"Yeah, but I still don't have to be happy about not being there to protect last week's haul. And you, there is no way you are in this as deep as I am."  
  
"Misha, you're not making any sense. I don't see how you can lose what you already have."  
  
"That's because you've always been in the low stakes Dimitri, you keep what you get."  
  
"And…"  
  
"And I've been in the high stakes all year. I HAVE to get to every game or I have a just one shot next week at keeping last weeks profit."  
  
"Did you do well last week?"  
  
"I doubled my total, and I still haven't made up what I lost the first week. Listen guys, I'm in it up to my ears, and Tsepish has too many people in this to let me off. I don't get to the game and I'm hosed."  
  
"You get one spin, don't you?"  
  
"Katya? How did you know about this?"  
  
"I think you're the only one who hasn't moved up in the world Dimitri, even I know about the last chance save-your-robes Russian roulette spin, and he's right; Vlad would have better luck of acing Transfig than he does of saving his stakes."  
  
"Thanks for the support Misha."  
  
"Just trying to be honest. You never should have kept this much in the game Vlad."  
  
"It's criminal the way she runs this thing."  
  
"You didn't have to get involved to begin with. And do you realize the risks she takes in setting it up? If Snape caught her, again, cripes, I'd rather face a Siberian snowstorm in my underwear."  
  
"But when you realize what she's taking off the top…"  
  
"She has to be able to cover the bets…"  
  
"She must have a fortune by now."  
  
"I hear she pays for her tuition out of it."  
  
"I don't care what she does with it as long as I get my winnings back."  
  
"Listen, you still have a couple of hours, there's no way they'll start the game before the concert, and all you have to do is get there before it ends, right?"  
  
"Right."  
  
"So quit worrying, all of you, and get some sleep. Or do I have to wake up Sasha and get her to sing you a lullaby?"  
  
"She's right."  
  
"Just forget about it Vlad."  
  
"Easy for you to say."  
  
That was about all Lucy got as the Slytherins bedded down in their corner to try and get some sleep. She knew them a little from what other people in the room had filled her in on. Vladimir was a fourth year from St. Petersburg, Misha was a very tall seventh year boy from Moscow, Katya was a fifth year from Protechka, and Dimitri was also in fifth year, from Saransk. Sasha, who had been asleep, was a skinny blond from Angarsk, in Siberia, and was universally feared throughout the first year, or so Marguerite had informed her.  
  
Slytherin didn't have as many international students as most of the other houses, and the few that they had were either from Russia, Italy, or Japan, so they were all pretty easy to keep straight.  
  
Lucy curled up on the desk to rest, although she kept puzzling over the conversation she had just heard. She only knew one Tsepish in this school, so what on earth was Bet up to?  
  
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About an hour and a half later the door opened and one of the men stood there staring down at the students asleep on the floor.  
  
"Get up. You may now join your houses in the Great Hall."  
  
"That's it?" It was hard to tell if Chandrika was pleased or offended.  
  
"Do you need a written invitation girlie? Come on, lets get out of here!" Warren grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her along in the throng of students piling out of the stuffy room into the cool fresh air of the hallway. Poor Chandrika had to jog along as the Lane boys quickened their pace at the sound of the Savage Garden Gnomes latest single coming from the Great Hall.  
  
"I hope there's food left," Marguerite was suddenly at Lucy's side, and she took the girl's hand to make sure she didn't loose her in the crowd.  
  
As they emerged into the Great Hall, Lucy realized their pseudo-captors had timed their release perfectly. The band was on its first set and there were so many students crowded around the stage in the hall that no one really noticed the small mob that showed up at that time and headed directly for the food.  
  
Chester P. Parker, however, was not one of those people. He trotted over from the Hufflepuff table, two plates of food in his hands, demanding an explanation. Lucy sat down with the pair long enough to give a general explanation while a ravenous Marguerite chewed and nodded. Then she excused herself as the French girl came up for air and filled in the details, and made her way over to the Gryffindor table, where Seamus, apparently not a Savage Garden Gnomes fan, sat grimacing. He leaped to his feet when he saw her, vaulted over the table, grabbed her by the hand and dragged both her, and the plate of food HE had saved, towards the end of the table farthest from the music.  
  
"What happened! Why did they keep you so long? I tried to contact you and I couldn't! That Chester boy has been asking about you at every meal and he came to the Tower twice between classes asking for you and that French kid. Are you ok? Did they feed you? I had to fight off Ron to get the last roll so be grateful and eat!"  
  
Lucy laughed out loud at the non-stop stream of words coming from Seamus' mouth, and as she tore into her food she managed to convey that she had not been harmed, she had been fed, a little, and that all she had done all day was cool her heels in a nasty little room and answer a bunch of pointless questions.  
  
"So you're really ok? Why couldn't I get to you?"  
  
"Well," she paused as she munched away, "I think you're limited to line of sight, you know, you can't focus unless you can actually see your target. We'll work on it, don't worry."  
  
"You have no idea how frustrating that was."  
  
"I can imagine."  
  
"So, who was in there with you again?"  
  
"That's what I was trying to say, they had gathered up every single foreign student in the school. If you were from outside Great Britain, you were in that room."  
  
"Must have been crowded."  
  
"And hot, I mean, it was as stuffy as those nights last summer when Diego and me-" She dropped her chicken leg.  
  
"Madre de los luces, I forgot! And he's probably been at it all day. Oh man, he's going to be really angry."  
  
She jumped up from the table and headed for the door.  
  
"Where are you going?"  
  
"I'll tell you later! Explain about today to the others for me, will you?"  
  
And with that the door swung shut behind her and she was gone.  
  
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As she made her way back to the tower Lucy shook her head at how forgetful she had been. True, today had been somewhat abnormal, but still. She cut off the fat lady's interrogation as to why she wasn't at the feast by snapping the password at her, which earned her a Look and more muttering, but by then she was inside and didn't care.  
  
She dashed up the stairs, threw open the door to her room and dove for her trunk. Rummaging about a bit yielded up the larger of her mirrors, and she threw herself down on the bed, pulling the curtains shut around her. She forced herself to calm her mind and her breathing before reaching out to make the connection and waiting as the mirror went dark and then the image of Diego's face shimmered into place.  
  
"Where have you been? I've been waiting all day."  
  
"I know, I know, I'm sorry, but you wouldn't believe the day I've had."  
  
"You're right, I probably won't, but can we talk about it later?"  
  
Lucy nodded. "Anyway, I'm sorry. Do you want to start? Because I'm not sure if I rememeber…"  
  
"It's ok Luce, I can do it."  
  
She smiled, nodded, and propped the mirror up with a pillow so she could look without having to use her hands to hold it up. She quieted her mind and listened to Diego's voice, which was now more in her head than her ears.  
  
Dia de Los Muertos was, by tradition, in fact tied up with All Soul's Day, a Christian holiday on November 1st. Most people at Espiritu weren't monotheists in any sense of the word, but most religions did have a day set aside to remember the dead. Since both Lucy's family and Diego's had traditionally celebrated Dia de Los Muertos, the pair had agreed that they would do their remembering and praying tonight; for although a large part of their families were not dead, just gone for a while, Diego's mentor was, and so were Lucy's parents and several of their friends. As for the others, well, Diego didn't think a little ceremony would hurt anyone.  
  
It was a strange mix of old Spanish and Navajo prayers that were used that night, but the two young students said all of the ones that they could remember. When they had said all they could, they agreed that they would keep the mirror connection up and just sit there together, like they had for so many years with Rosa in the tiny Espiritu cemetery.  
  
Lucy calmed her breathing, and her mind, as much as she could, and instinctively reached out for Deigo's soothing presence. He was a lot better with emotions on all accounts than she, and finding his cool, crisp, deep blue essence was as easy as breathing. But she was almost shocked out of her semi-trance when she DID find it. They had spoken using focus mirrors and the like across the vast distance, but never directly mind to mind; but then, they had never tried the rapport that had been such a large part of their lives in the past, since she had gone away to school. She could tell he was as surprised as she, but she felt his laughter and smiled, it was rather ironic when you thought about it.  
  
She wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, wordless thoughts and conversations passing between them at times, memories, stories, and then long periods of nothing. If the other girls came in and went to sleep, she didn't hear them; she didn't hear anything. She might have started to doze off still sitting crossed legged on her bed, when she heard Diego's voice in her head.  
  
**I don't know what it is you're doing over there Luce, but your reserves are drained. It's late, tomorrow at the very least. Close down the mirror, you need the rest.**  
  
**But…** She didn't want to sound like a five year old child, but after so much time spent digging up the past, she didn't want to be left alone all at once.  
  
Of course, she should have realized that with his knack for emotions, Diego would have felt that, she didn't really need to say anymore.  
  
**I don't want to go either. Just, just get in bed chica, hmm? I've got a hell of a lot more reserves than you, I'll stick around until you fall asleep, how about that.**  
  
**Sounds good.** Her head voice was already sleepy as she kicked off her clothes, placed the mirror on the floor, and crawled under the covers. The last thing she recalled before she fell into a dreamless sleep was the sound of Rosa singing a lullaby, but that must have been one of Diego's memories. 


	8. Chapter Eight: Goodness, Gracious, Great...

Chapter Eight: Goodness, Gracious, Great Balls of Fire  
  
"All right Edward, you've had it your way, now I must insist that you return to the ministry. There is nothing else for you to do here."  
  
"I'm not so sure Albus."  
  
"Don't tell me you mean to interrogate the rest of the school as well? I'll never allow it. I shouldn't have allowed you to interview the students you did. I'll be up to my ears in owls for the next two weeks I guarantee it. Especially the highborns. They may not be from this country Edward but that does not mean their families are without enough power and influence to make my days a nightmare until they are satisfied. If you tried to intimidate the rest of my students with those ridiculous scare tactics you might just find yourself out a job. Just remember who sends their children here."  
  
"I don't want to interview any more of your students, so you can relax."  
  
"Than what is it that compels you to stay?"  
  
"I still think the school is in danger."  
  
"May I remind you Edward that when Gringott's was not considered safe enough that the ministry placed a certain valuable object in our care."  
  
"From what I understand that object nearly ended up in the hands of You Know Who."  
  
"But it didn't, and that is the important point."  
  
"And the year after that, a, now what did I hear, a basilisk, was it? That kidnapped one of your students and succeeded in petrifying several others?"  
  
"That was also caught and destroyed."  
  
"And then of course there was the fact that Sirius Black, that murderer, seemed to be capable of freely coming and going from the school with ease."  
  
"Whether or not that is true I cannot say, no one was seriously injured."  
  
"And then of course there was the case of that poor boy in the tournament."  
  
Dumbledore's eyes, normally soft and inviting, went cold as the man in front of him tried to use Cedric's death as a pawn in some game. "Yes, we must all hope that the Ministry is able to capture Voldemort soon, then we will all be truly safe." Edward flinched at the name, but composed himself swiftly.  
  
"Yes, we all pray for that. But there seems to be another threat now, perhaps a new ally of the Dark Lord. Wasn't it just last year that some sort of.new magic, was used to transport Death Eaters right onto the Hogwarts grounds?"  
  
"No masked Death Eater entered this school. We did find a relic of some ancient circle deep in the forest, and some skilled mages came and dismantled it last summer, it is no longer a threat. And I can think of a few more dangerous places to find Death Eaters, have you searched the Ministry yet?"  
  
Edward sat there, tight lipped, but didn't respond to the barb. He smoothly carried on as if he hadn't heard that last remark.  
  
"But it still raises questions, Albus. Questions about this circle in the west. Who are they? And more importantly, whose side are they on?"  
  
"I don't think they are on a side Edward. They appear to have flourished quite well for the past several thousand years without choosing a side."  
  
"Well that's all fine and good if they leave us alone, but you understand, don't you headmaster, that we cannot allow them to join the wrong side."  
  
Dumbledore's eyes narrowed. "Speak plain, Mr. Farnsworth, under what circumstances can you presume to 'allow' them to exist?"  
  
"Well you have considered, haven't you, that some of them must be loyal to the Dark Lord."  
  
"And how do you arrive at that conclusion?"  
  
"Well, you said it yourself. They have managed to evade our notice for thousands of years, and then all of a sudden a masterwork of theirs seems to activate itself in the middle of England. We couldn't have done it, so it stands to reason that some of these western wizards must be serving You Know Who."  
  
"You don't think that the Dark Lord could have been learning their arts?"  
  
"Well, I find it unlikely, given his past record, that he would sully himself with knowledge of such a barbaric form of magic. And even if he did, he would need a teacher."  
  
Dumbledore was silent for a moment, then gave a deep sigh, and turned back to his guest.  
  
"What is this all leading up to, Edward?"  
  
"I want to leave one of my men in the school."  
  
"For what purpose?"  
  
"To maintain security, to protect the students, and to snuff out any trouble."  
  
"What kinds of trouble?"  
  
"There have been a lot of owls from parents over the past few years, worried about security at the school. And now there is talk that some of the students might be dangerous."  
  
"What?" Dumbledore was starting to get angry.  
  
"Hear me out, Albus. There have been several students who have told their parents about a student or students that seem out of the ordinary, strange."  
  
"Many students are different, Mr. Farnseworth, we like to encourage creativity and originality among the children. That is not a criminal offense."  
  
"No it isn't, sir, but a dangerous child may unwillingly injure another student."  
  
"Accidents happen all the time, you remember your school days, there is nothing to set up a patrol over."  
  
"That is true, if the student can be controlled. But what happens if this child has skills no one is familiar with? What happens when no one can control him? Then, sir, you have a very volatile situation on your hands."  
  
"I assure you, the students are well under control."  
  
"The ministry doesn't seem to think so."  
  
Dumbledore arched his eyebrow.  
  
"We can't force this, Albus, and you know that. But if you want your advisories to the Defense Minister to be taken more seriously, you could start by taking any measure necessary to protect your students."  
  
The headmaster thought for a moment.  
  
"What would you be doing?"  
  
"My man? Nothing terribly invasive. Sitting in on a few classes, perhaps, strolling the halls. You wouldn't even know he was there."  
  
"I am not going to provide him the passwords to any common rooms."  
  
"No need, no need. If he really feels it is important to search a room, why, you or the head of house could escort him and would be present at all times. This is meant as a precaution, headmaster, not as a takeover."  
  
"I will need time to discuss this with the staff."  
  
"Certainly, oh, and there was one more suggestion from the Minister."  
  
"Oh really? And what was that?"  
  
"That you not inform the students."  
  
"I beg your pardon? I will have to tell them who he is."  
  
"Tell them he is a visiting guest that will be staying in the school, but no more. We feel it might hinder the investigation, you know how children can be."  
  
"Yes," said the headmaster through tight lips, "I know."  
  
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"So what do you think that guy is here for?" Hermione had not stopped talking about the stranger, who now seemed to have a permanent spot at the staff table, since Dumbledore gave a very unsatisfactory introduction at breakfast.  
  
Ron rolled his eyes. "God's teeth, 'Mione, just give it a rest, ok? He's a strange guy, no one knows him, kinds creepy, he'll probably be prowling around the halls and get us into trouble. It'll be like having another Filch. End of story."  
  
Hermione shook her head. "He seemed weird, as if he knew he was going to be doing something shady. Did you feel it Harry?"  
  
Harry shook his head. He had been too busy trying to keep his meal down. They had a match against Slythering in a little over a week. The match against Ravenclaw had come uncharacteristically early in the season, but the captains had agreed to hold it out of mutual respect; both teams had a lot of new players that needed experience before more crucial games. Hermione had already told him he was being ridiculous getting this nervous when Slytherin was so far away, but that had never stopped Harry from worrying himself sick. Which was exactly what he was doing. His one recourse had been to practice till he was so exhausted all he could do was fall asleep and not have to think about Quidditch. The rest of the team wasn't really taking this idea very well, but he was beyond caring. Dean agreed that they needed the work, and that was all he needed.  
  
No one paid much attention to Lucy's tight-lipped, uncharacteristically quiet behavior.  
  
Lucy knew the man at the table. He had stood in the background slightly to the right of her interrogator all through the interview. He hadn't said a word, but she hadn't liked the way he had been looking at her; she hadn't liked it at all.  
  
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Lucy took a deep breath as she stepped through the wall into the staircase leading to the BA room. This might be a bit sticky. The meeting had been scheduled for over a week, but since Hufflepuff had just beaten Ravenclaw in the last match, she had a feeling tempers were going to be running a little high.  
  
She had no idea.  
  
She heard a loud bang and burst through the door to see a chair fallen over and a fuming Lynx on his feet. Rasheph was already seething and standing in the door from the toilets, his hands balled into tight fists. Bet was next to the fireplace, looking annoyed, tapping her foot and raising an eyebrow as Lucy entered the room. **Trust. Don't want interfere.**  
  
Lucy was surprised, she was coming along well. Although she was fairly certain Bet had meant something along the lines of, 'Trust me, you don't want to interfere,' she had gotten the crucial words through, which was progress.  
  
Before she could say another word the argument continued to explode.  
  
"Take it back!"  
  
"No! Why should I?"  
  
"Because it's not true, and you know it!"  
  
"I know what I saw, Brimstead!"  
  
"And what was that?"  
  
"There is no way that boy was going to beat Cho and you knew it! The Snitch-"  
  
"The Snitch moves with a will of its own, no one could have predicted it would fly that way!"  
  
"That it would fly BACKWARDS! OUT OF CHO'S REACH AND RIGHT TOWARDS YOUR SEEKER! What a marvelous coincidence for you!"  
  
Lynx's voice was cold. "What are you saying, Radu?"  
  
"I'm saying that you cheated. I'm saying that you KNEW your seeker wasn't a match for Cho, you saw she was going to get it, and you used your gift to push the snitch towards your own seeker, right into his hand."  
  
"That's ridiculous."  
  
"I don't think so."  
  
"Take it back Rasheph!"  
  
"I am not apologizing to a cheater!"  
  
At that moment every book from the top shelf flew across the room, slamming into the wall with a bang. If Rasheph hadn't heard Lucy's warning and ducked he'd have been knocked out. But before the books had hit the floor the rest of the chairs overturned and clattered to the ground. The door to the stairs banged open and then shut. The table began to shake.  
  
Bet's eyes grew wide and she quickly doused the fire before any flaming logs could start to fly. Lucy was shaking, but not as much as Lynx. She looked in his eyes and saw he was even more scared than she was. He had lost control, lost his balance, and he didn't know how to take it back.  
  
She did. Without another thought she closed the distance between them and slapped Lynx clear across the face. The shock of it knocked him to the floor. There were no more flying objects, he had his control back. But he was almost as stubborn as she was, he had the same weakness when it came to pride, and as he stood, rubbing his jaw, she could still see the anger in his eyes.  
  
But his loss of control was enough to convince Lucy he hadn't done it. He couldn't have been that angry if Rasheph had been accusing him of something he really had done. There is almost nothing worse than being falsely accused, and that anger had led to the loss of control, she was sure of it. The situation needed to be diffused before Lynx went past the point where she could control him.  
  
"Rasheph," Lucy spoke softly, "I don't think Lynx has the skill to move something that small with that much finesse. He's still practicing with that old Quaffle, remember."  
  
"Maybe he's better than he's letting on. After all, how long has it been since Hufflepuff won the Cup? That's motivation enough."  
  
She saw Lynx about to retort and moved between the two boys.  
  
"Just stop it! Look at what you are doing! Lynx, I don't care what he says, you HAVE to simmer down before you do something you will regret. Trust me, I understand, I've done this before and you don't want to know what its like afterwards. So just, sit in the corner, both of you."  
  
Lynx retreated to one, Rasheph the opposite, and Lucy and Bet took the corners between them.  
  
They sat there in silence, not speaking, not even looking at each other. They had been at it for about half an hour when Bet let out a groan and sprang to her feet.  
  
"This is ridiculous, both of you are as pig headed and stubborn as my grandfather, and none of you have the age to be entitled to such behavior. We are going to settle this once and for all."  
  
Lynx looked at her warily. "What do you intend to do?"  
  
"We are going to see, before anything else, whether or not Lucy is right, if you are capable of a maneuver of that finesse."  
  
Rasheph snorted. "That's no good, he could fake it."  
  
Bet shook her head. "He wouldn't dare do anything but his very best."  
  
"And why not?"  
  
Bet gave Lucy an apologetic looked, then turned around, and using the towel on hand, gingerly picked up Sparks the egg. "Because if he fails, Lucy will kill him. Not to mention fail Care of Magical Creatures."  
  
Lucy eyes grew wide, but Bet met her stare, and there was something about the look on the young girl's face that made Lucy bight her tongue.  
  
The boys were silent, but Bet didn't seem at all concerned at the possibility of killing the egg, and pushed open the bookcase to reveal the entrance to the toilets.  
  
"Well, come on then."  
  
They had no choice but to follow her out.  
  
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"Now, Lynx is probably closer to the egg than he was to the Snitch, and Sparks is bigger than it too, but this is the best we can do."  
  
"I really don't think we should do this, can't there be a net or something?"  
  
"No net, if it was there, it would be too easy for you not to try."  
  
Lynx groaned and looked over the railing, he and Bet were on one of the highest staircases above the main entry hall; Lucy and Rasheph waited anxiously below.  
  
"Ready, set, go!" Bet dropped the egg over the side, and it fell silently, faster and faster. Lynx's face was red and sweating as he tried with all the power he knew to stop the egg in the air before it hit the ground. He couldn't do it, maybe he was slowing it, a little, but he wasn't going to be able to stop it, it was going to crack.  
  
At that moment, when the egg was three feet from the floor, Lynx fainted.  
  
Lucy's eyes snapped to the egg and it halted its perilous dive not six inches from the cold stones. She wrapped her hand in her cloak and gingerly picked it up and gave it a little kiss.  
  
"I hope we didn't scramble your brains, Sparky old pal." She looked up at Rasheph's white face. "That was all me, by the way, I only stopped it after Lynx fainted."  
  
Rasheph raised his eyebrow. "And if he hadn't fainted?"  
  
Lucy grinned and stepped on the stone in front of her, her foot sank into it like a marshmellow. "Cushion stone, of the extra extra soft variety. Plus, phoenix eggs are designed to take a little punishment, accidents do happen you know; I wasn't about to fail Hagrid's class because you were being a prat. Lynx didn't know, obviously; Bet cast the charm from up there while we were getting ready and he was trying not to hyperventilate." She shifted the very hot egg from one hand to another.  
  
"Now, I better go put him back to bed. And I think you have an apology to make," she rolled her eyes towards the stairs above where a crack and a yell rang out as Bet slapped Lynx clear across the face to wake him up.  
  
Rasheph sighed and nodded. "I was an idiot. Listen, I'm sorry we dragged you two into this. Hope he's ok." He gave her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek before starting up the stairs towards the bellowing Lynx.  
  
"God's teeth woman! What the hell did you do that for?"  
  
As Lucy chuckled and turned to head towards the girl's bathroom, she didn't see the tall figure quickly vanishing from its vantage point in the doorway; a vantage point that gave him a clear view of the path of the egg.  
  
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The BA was a tiring experience after that. The boys felt equally bad; Rasheph for making the accusation, and Lynx for losing control, he got a haunted look in his eye whenever he thought about what he could have done. So the meetings became frequent, and longer.  
  
Bet and Rasheph, since both of their gifts were more inwardly centered, worked together most often. They worked to increase shielding, and then alternately, to increase the skill and precision with which they could project. It was more difficult because Rasheph wasn't really a telepath, and Bet didn't receive images all that well. But when a gift is awakened so late, as Lucy had explained, it is usually uncharacteristically strong, and both students found they had the ability to project into each other's heads with enough concentration. Of course, more finesse work required Lucy, but using each other was preferable to Lynx, whose gift didn't use any similar channels, and usually gave them a headache if they worked too hard.  
  
Lucy and Lynx was a regular pairing, mostly because they had the same weakness and Lucy finally found someone she could learn from and teach at the same time. It was often distracting for the other two, because in order to test their ability to control in times of heightened emotion, they had to get each other angry. Which wasn't easy when it was your friend. Usually they resorted to physical violence, hitting each other and yelling until finally something flew that wasn't supposed to, at that point Lucy would cross her eyes or Lynx would waggle his eyebrows and the anger would cease as soon as it had begun. It was painful to watch, but both felt stronger for it.  
  
A side effect was that Lucy left BA feeling both physically and emotionally drained. She'd drag herself back into the common room and collapse on a sofa. Usually Hermione, Lavender, or even one of the boys would bring her back a plate from dinner, and she would nap for a half an hour until Seamus woke her up and reminded her to finish her homework. She had taken to getting as many assignments as possible done before BA, so it was just studying and easier work left after the sessions.  
  
She didn't really say what was going on, not even to Seamus. She was afraid he'd try and interfere. The fact was every time she looked at him was a reminder of what could happen when she lost control, and it made her more determined than ever to conquer that weakness. Diego knew, of course, he thought the method was a little crude, but agreed that it was important. He had managed to get a few nights off, and they usually spoke once a week. It was the second week of November when he dropped the bomb.  
  
"Lucy, I found it."  
  
Lucy shook her head.  
  
"Found what? And where are you? Why don't I hear camels?"  
  
"I'm in the library at Cairo. One of the librarian's assistants is getting married and he needed someone who knew this place to fill in, so I have been temporarily sprung from the stables. Anyway, I've been here for three days, cataloging and filing, and during my breaks I was looking in the basement, and I found it."  
  
"Found what!"  
  
"An old chest in some back room, this place is a maze, the basement runs right into the old catacombs, anyway, it's a book, an old book, and it tells everything."  
  
"I am going to kill you, tells everything about what?"  
  
"The void."  
  
Lucy nearly choked. "The void, THE void?"  
  
Diego smiled and nodded. "Bad news is that its in ancient Sumerian, and I'm horrible with ancient Sumerian. Fortunately, the librarian's daughter has a crush on me, and she's great with ancient languages from this area. I'm sending you the translations chapter by chapter, she said it should only take her a week to do the whole thing."  
  
"What's her name?"  
  
"Honestly Lucy, there are more important things to be concerned about here."  
  
"Please, you haven't dated anyone in three years, this warrants a celebration, now tell me her name."  
  
"It's Zahra, and who said I was dating her? Madre de Dios, are you happy now?"  
  
"Yes, now what have you found out so far?"  
  
"There is no energy in the void."  
  
"What?"  
  
"First chapter, I already mailed it, you're getting them as soon as she can translate and I can copy it. Now pay attention. The void is just that, a void, there is no energy. Energy passes through it instantaneously, so you could theoretically say that it never enters it at all."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"It has to do with a lot of complicated physics, you don't need to know about, I hope. But the fact is that there is no energy in the void."  
  
"But, I mean, what does that mean for."  
  
"For them? Don't panic, I think they are fine. I mean, the void seems to be chaotic; there are currants, lines of energy moving at an incredible rate, like I said, so fast that they almost aren't there at all, no net energy. It gets sucked out as soon as it enters. But there seem to be pockets in this place, and inside these pockets, it's still."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You are going to have to work with me Luce. Listen, all I'm saying is that there are pockets of stability in this chaos, there's a theory they have to do with gates themselves, since gates stabilize the energy for a short time. Anyway, I think if they got into a pocket, they should be ok."  
  
"All right, so they are in a stable pocket in the midst of chaotic currents of energy in a place with no energy to drawn on."  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"So how do we get them out?"  
  
"This is our dilemma. We've already established that first we have to find them in what is essentially a limitless parallel dimension the size of our universe."  
  
"Correct. And then we have to devise a means of getting them out."  
  
"And because there is no energy in the void.."  
  
"That pretty much eliminates gating."  
  
"Which was are best shot. Exactly."  
  
"No, there has to be a way to gate, I mean, they gated there-"  
  
"They gated there from this world Lucy, whomever made that gate could pull on the energy from Espiritu. You can't pull on that energy from inside."  
  
Lucy nodded. "Listen, I'm beat, and I need to ice my ankle before someone notices the swelling. I am going to lock myself up in Asriel's workroom this weekend. He investigated everything, he has to have some good theories on gate building, and I have an idea of my own, but I need to flush it out."  
  
"No problem. We should have the full text by next week sometime."  
  
"Good, oh, and Diego, give her some flowers."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Zahra, the girl who is translating an entire book of ancient Sumerian, most likely off limits, highly restricted literature, under her father's nose, all for the love of you. Give the girl some god damn flowers."  
  
"Yes mama."  
  
His voice caught a bit there, and Lucy remembered with a pang that Diego had lost a mother in all this. It made her more determined than ever to find a way to bring her back.  
  
She smiled. "Orchids, they're my favorites, every girl likes them. And they are much prettier than roses."  
  
He nodded, "Whatever you say. And Luce, you might want to ice that eye a bit too, it still looks puffy."  
  
Lucy swore and nodded, then watched the mirror image ripple and fade to her own reflection, which did, indeed, show the beginnings of a shiner forming under her eye. She and Lynx were going to have to discuss hitting areas covered by clothing; bruises were a lot harder to explain than fatigue. 


	9. Chapter Nine: November Rain

Chapter Nine: November Rain  
  
Of course, there is nothing like the burning fire of discovery and invention to drive away thoughts of pain. Lucy brought most of her schoolbooks into Asriel's workroom, so she could easily use breaks from her homework and studying to pour over journal after journal, and to analyze the Sumerian translation.  
  
From what she had discovered, everything confirmed the revelation that the void was an energy free zone. But Lucy was not about to give up upon gating; it was the best chance they had for an exodus of the proportions necessary in the time span they were planning on. Further conversations and letters decided that Diego's resources were best put to use finding out a way to pinpoint the location of the exiles in the void; Lucy's job was to dig up a way to get them out once found.  
  
She was positive that it had to be a gate. But there was no such thing as an energy-less gate; it couldn't be done. What had to be discovered was a way to funnel energy to the person forming the gate inside the void from an outside source. But all conventional scenarios left Lucy with the same result; the forces inside the void would steal the energy before it ever got to the sanctuary where, if all stars were aligned, the Espiritu exiles had gated into.  
  
It was a royal headache that kept her scribbling on her napkins at meals and writing keywords in the margins of her transfiguration notes. After Seamus leaned forward to try and sneak a glance at a potions ingredient he had forgotten, and instead saw Lucy furiously scribbling notes in Spanish, he pulled her aside in the hall as soon as Snape released them.  
  
"What is going on now?"  
  
Lucy looked up, surprised and irritated. "I beg your pardon?"  
  
"Don't act cute with me Luce. I hardly see you anymore."  
  
"I told you, the BA has become.complicated. This is taking a lot more time than I had expected."  
  
"And you can't take a day off? You said they could conceivably run that thing without you."  
  
"Yes, but then I wouldn't get a chance to learn anything, would I?"  
  
"What are they teaching you?"  
  
Lucy silently cursed herself, Seamus would have kittens if he knew Lynx was hurling books at her to get her angry enough to work on control.  
  
"I.I don't think you would understand."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"It's hard to explain. You didn't want to join Seamus, remember? It's hardly fair to them now that you won't let them see you but expect to be privy to their very personal learning process."  
  
"Lucy." he groaned and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling, then shook his head and headed off with Dean. Lucy sighed, he was going to have to get used to the fact that he couldn't be on the inside of everything going on in her life, she didn't have time.  
  
She hurried off for a quick trip to the workroom to check something and promised herself she would explain everything some other time.  
  
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It was later that week when an announcement went up for a Hogsmeade weekend. Gryffindors rejoiced, as did the BA since they had all agreed to take a few days off. Saturday dawned grey and nasty, and thunder was heard all during breakfast under a stormy and threatening enchanted ceiling.  
  
That did nothing to stop the students from grabbing umbrellas and rain slickers and pouring out of the castle toward town. As the boys ducked into Zonko's Lucy decided it might be a good time to let Seamus in on a little of what she and Diego were planning. She was about to interrupt his debate with Dean over what he should buy when someone pulled on her arm.  
  
She turned around to see Nicholas Kornakovitch.  
  
"Hi," he said, looking nervous.  
  
"Hello," Lucy smiled, wondering what on earth he needed.  
  
"Listen, you need to come back to Hogwarts. Now."  
  
"What? Why? Is something wrong?"  
  
"No, and yes. Listen, we really wanted to discuss it in private."  
  
"Discuss what? Who?"  
  
"You're fellow captives," he waggled his eyebrows. "But we can't do it until we're safely back at school. So come on!"  
  
Seamus was still absorbed in making his selection, and didn't notice Lucy slip out the door. Once they were on the street Nicholas turned to her.  
  
"I'm afraid you're on your own from here."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Listen, I'm not the mastermind, I'm just a lackey, and I have more people to round up. Just head back to the common room and someone will tell you where to go from there. They'll explain it all later, but we are trying to keep this discreet."  
  
Lucy shrugged, nodded, and headed back to the castle as Nicholas disappeared into the busy street.  
  
When she returned to the common room, which was full of bored first and second years, she saw Maria Moray by the window, looking intently in her direction. She wandered over.  
  
"I'm the lookout," she piped up proudly.  
  
Lucy grinned. "Congratulations, now could you explain anything?"  
  
"Not really here, too many people. I am supposed to tell you to head for the library. Back wall near the windows."  
  
Lucy groaned, "Anything else?"  
  
"Nope, you better get going, you're one of the last ones."  
  
Lucy nodded and headed out.  
  
At the back of the library she found Sergei, the seventh year Ravenclaw. He smiled at her and she followed as he weaved his way deep into the stacks. In the corner he ran his fingers along the spines of the books, pulled on one so quickly she couldn't see the title, and stood back as the case swung out, revealing a passage.  
  
"First door on the right." was all he said as the case swung back and she was alone in the dark. She saw a light ahead and walked towards it, and on her right she turned to look into a room crowded with people. She spied a knot of Gryffindors seated on a sofa and joined them.  
  
Gazing around she noticed almost everyone she had seen that Halloween day of the interrogation. Almost.  
  
"Where's Marguerite Ducasse?"  
  
Audrey Su was sitting nearby with her sister, and turned towards Lucy.  
  
"Oh, she's the lookout in the Ravenclaw common room. All the lookouts are second or first years, they were the only ones that would be hanging around the castle. She'll be down with the others in a few minutes."  
  
Lucy nodded, shrugged, and leaned on the arm of the sofa trying to figure out what in the hell she was doing here.  
  
About fifteen minutes later she saw Marguerite slip through the door, followed by Maria Moray, Sasha, and a Hufflepuff Lucy wasn't familiar with. Sergei followed them and closed the doors. It seemed everyone was here, but Lucy felt like several people were missing.  
  
Aysha got up from her chair and leaned over the back.  
  
"We'll get things started, hopefully you all recognize each other. Everyone who was kept in that nasty little room on Halloween, less three people, is here now. We called you all together again because we don't think we've been let off the hook as they want us to believe."  
  
She turned to Misha, who stood up.  
  
"The fact is, we're being followed, spied upon, almost constantly. For various reasons, some of us, perhaps being a little more paranoid than most, noticed it before others. But we began to realize that others were being tailed in the same manner."  
  
"And," Audrey Su stood up, "we realized that at some point in the last few weeks every one of us has been tailed and followed. We don't know how many people are doing this, so far it looks like just one, but we decided the best way to figure out what to do was to get everyone together."  
  
Marguerite shook her head. "What if whomever is doing this followed us here? What if they are listening?"  
  
Misha grinned. "Good point. Right now we are going on a little faith that this is just one person. We're all betting on that ministry chap Dumbledore never really explained, one of the guys that interrogated us. And for the past half an hour the Lane boys have volunteered to lead him on a wild goose chase all over Hogsmeade. They purposely acted suspicious and conspiratorial, and they have been leading their tail unwillingly all over the village. Their plan was to slip away in about five minutes, once they were sure we were all gathered, and then come join us. Warren dated a Ravenclaw I believe, so he knows how to get into their study room."  
  
Audrey blushed and stepped hard on Misha's foot.  
  
"That's a good point. Listen, we took a risk by using this place, but, under the circumstances, we decided it was a safer place than any room that was more public, where a spy could get in, and definitely much better than a common room, since house rivalries being what they are."  
  
Katya snorted, "So you didn't want to be beaten to death for showing a Slytherin the way to your common room?"  
  
Misha shot her a look and Dimitri placed a hand on her shoulder, which she shrugged off, mumbling something and turning a sullen gaze back to the older students.  
  
There was a moment or two of silence, which was broken by laughter as Warren, Wesley, and William Lane stepped through the door.  
  
"Who died?" William looked around at the quiet group, and sat down on the arm of the sofa, winking at Lucy.  
  
"We were just explaining why they are here," Audry looked relieved to hand the floor over to Warren.  
  
Warren nodded and sat down on a high stool. "Yeah, well, I dunno what exactly has been said, but we were taking a little trip to the kitchens when we first realized we were being followed. We thought it was Filch, but it wasn't. It took us a couple of instances like that, pretty close together, to realize we were really being followed. It wasn't till we started talking to people from other houses, like Audrey, that we realized others were being tailed as well. We had a hunch they were targeting us foreigners, so we tailed the tail, so to speak. Whether or not you knew it was happening, everyone in here has been followed at least once in the past two weeks."  
  
This caused an eruption of questions and muttering. Misha stood up again and silenced everyone with a look.  
  
"The problem is, we have no evidence. We could go to Dumbledore, but we have nothing to give him but our words. And that still probably won't get us the answer of why we are being followed like this."  
  
Ginger Chao spoke up, "Well, someone must think we are up to something. I mean, why else would they follow us?"  
  
Aysha shook her head, "So by being foreigners now we're dangerous?"  
  
"I didn't say it was a correct assumption."  
  
"Something must have happened," interrupted Lucy, "something must have happened to make them act like this."  
  
Lesley Arong timidly piped up, "They say that something DID happen last year involving some foreign magic."  
  
"And they asked all of us about strange people in the school, people with strange abilities."  
  
"And they didn't seem satisfied at all. so now they are assuming WE are the people with strange abilities, just because we didn't identify anyone else." Marguerite's eyes were large, and angry.  
  
Again an eruption of angry shouts and denials rang out and had to be silenced by Misha and Warren.  
  
"What we need is proof. Evidence that we are being followed, by the man from the ministry. Dumbledore can't know about this or he would have stopped it. We need to get evidence, solid evidence, and present it to him."  
  
"Doesn't that mean we'll need outside help?" Piped up Wesley.  
  
"What?" Warren stared at his brother, but Lucy understood his meaning.  
  
"He's right. If we want someone with a camera or something, we don't want them to be followed or scrutinized, we don't want the tail to know what we are up to. We are going to need someone he won't look at to document this. We're going to need someone from outside this group."  
  
"Several someones," said Aysha, "We'd have a better chance of getting clear pictures if we had more than one person trying to track this guy down. He moves fast."  
  
Misha nodded, "How about one from each house? With a camera that can get good shots of this guy following us."  
  
Warren nodded, "Sounds good. And I've already got someone in mind. Who here knows the youngest Creevy?"  
  
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"And now they think this creepy guy from the Ministry is following us, trying to see if we are up to anything suspicious."  
  
"But Lucy, you are up to something suspicious."  
  
"Oh don't be paranoid, if he had been following ME, I would have known it."  
  
"Are you sure, you've been awfully busy lately?"  
  
"I would have known."  
  
Seamus shook his head and turned back to his broomstick, carefully clipping broken twigs and sanding down a few new splinters in the handle.  
  
Lucy turned back to her proof. She was trying to prove the existence of two different types of energy systems, using the training methods as a guide. But somewhere in the middle she was getting mixed up. Not to mention the added aggravation she had discovered when a notice from the Circle came today. At first she had been excited, and thought it had brought news. All it had been was a printed slip saying that her first thesis would be evaluated at Macchu Piccu. This wasn't unusual for first thesis. What was annoying was that tradition demanded a copy of the thesis be presented in the residing language of the school, in addition to one in the student's strongest language. And the presiding language of Maccu Piccu, was Quechua.  
  
Lucy could speak Quechua fine, it was the written part which was going to be a royal pain. She sighed and went back to her definitions of magical and natural energy lines and the differences between them. She was well along when students began to lumber down towards supper.  
  
Seamus was never one to be late to a meal; he quickly packed up his broomstick repair kit and trotted up the stairs to stow it under his bed. When he came back down Lucy hadn't moved.  
  
"Well, aren't you hungry?"  
  
"Ravenous," she didn't look up from her notes.  
  
"Well?"  
  
"Go along Seamus, I'm not coming to dinner."  
  
"Why not!"  
  
"I'm busy, I'll be fine. Trust me."  
  
Seamus shook his head, muttering, and followed Dean and Neville out the portrait hole.  
  
Lucy checked her watch.any minute now. She stacked her books and went to the window. Sure enough, at the exact time Diego had ordered, an albatross pounded up to the glass, a package dangling from its talons.  
  
Lucy opened the shutters and took the package, and gave the bird a handful of kippers she had saved on ice since lunch. The bird ate them greedily, and after a quick scratch on the chin was off again.  
  
She closed the window, shutting out the icy, biting wind, and opened her package. It was warm. Inside the brown packaging was a silver insulated bag, and inside of that was a boxed Thanksgiving dinner. There was turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, creamed onions, corn bread, stuffing, milk, and the all-important cranberry sauce, with ridges in it proving it came from a can. There was even silverware and flatware included. Lucy pulled a table near the window alcove, and carefully set out the single placemat, single napkin, the fork, knife, and spoon, and finally, her plate with all of the food arranged. She smiled when she found that the box had even included a tacky, crepe paper turkey table decoration, and she set it next to her glass, the only sign of festivity in the room.  
  
It did seem a rather pathetic sight, one lonely American trying so hard to have the perfect Thanksgiving feast alone, and in England of all places. Lucy was sure the Puritans would accuse her of some serious backsliding. Still, she bit her lip and refused to allow herself to cry; it was undoubtedly the worst Thanksgiving she had ever had, she much preferred last year, when life had been so chaotic she had forgotten about the holiday all together.  
  
She was just finishing the single slice of pumpkin pie when the rest of the tower returned from dinner. Most people didn't notice her away by the window, but she knew she couldn't avoid her friends. Hermione and Seamus came over, followed by Harry. Dean gave her a wave and a wink, and followed Ron up the stairs.  
  
Seamus was prepared to be angry at Lucy for acting strange and then not eating, but his anger, and the questions on the tip of Hermione's tongue vanished at the sight of the remnants of dinner and the lonely little paper turkey sitting on the table.  
  
"THIS was it?" Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Why didn't you explain?"  
  
"Explain what? 'Oh, by the way, I won't be down to dinner so I can observe the remembrance of my forefathers' triumph through a winter in the wilderness after escaping tyranny and persecution in this country?' Yeah, that would have gone over well."  
  
"You didn't think we would have wanted to join you?" Harry looked confused.  
  
"After all Lucy, food is food is food. Not really much to think about."  
  
"And besides," Seamus added, "You shouldn't have had Thanksgiving dinner alone."  
  
Lucy could have retorted with a comment about how he knew absolutely nothing about Thanksgiving dinner, but she didn't. And she couldn't really explain that she hadn't been alone during the meal, not really. Lonely, yes. Alone, never. So she smiled and nodded.  
  
"Maybe you're right, thanks, but I'm fine, really. I just wanted my cranberry sauce the way it's supposed to be served. Besides, Diego only sent enough for a single serving."  
  
They knew a dismissal when they heard it. Hermione headed back up to her room to study for the Herbology test they had tomorrow, and Harry headed back to his room as well.  
  
Seamus lingered there for a moment, nervously. It was just so bloody hard to tell when you could push Lucy and when she just needed her space. No matter how hard he tried sometimes he felt like he just couldn't win.  
  
"I'm really ok, you know." His thoughts were interrupted as he looked down to see Lucy studying him. "I didn't want to make a big deal about it, because its not. I mean last year I forgot about it completely."  
  
He nodded.  
  
"You'd better go study."  
  
"What about you?"  
  
"I've had Hermione grilling me all week, trust me, I'm going to do fine for a change."  
  
He grinned and went upstairs. Lucy cleaned up her dinner and headed back to her room to be grilled once again. 


	10. Chapter Ten: Crazy Train

Chapter Ten: Crazy Train  
  
It was now the first week of December, and the looming holiday had incited something of a cabin fever among the castle students. Even the tension that had been building all year among Harry, Ron, and Hermione, over some secret that Hermione had yet to reveal, seemed to be laid aside as the boys spent more time enjoying themselves in the snow outside, and visiting with Hagrid, while Hermione holed up in the library with schoolwork and whatever else it was they were up to.  
  
Saturday dawned a bit gray and foreboding but it brought the promise of more snow, and Lucy took advantage of it to escape the tower, and the wizard chess tournament being held there. The sixth year boys, all having taken on Ron at some point, were all involved, as well as Hermione and Parvati, and plenty of the younger students. The seventh years had an App. Ed., or Apparator's Education, class that morning and wouldn't be able to start their matches till the afternoon. The whole sight made Lucy, who had never been able to sit through, let alone master, the game of chess in either its non-wizarding or wizarding forms, felt like she was about to break out in hives. She wished the players luck and hurried out of the common room.  
  
Her first stop was the Hufflepuff common room. She waited for about ten minutes before someone emerged from the fireplace, and then asked if Parker was in. The girl showed her in and pointed up to the roof. Lucy climbed the spiral staircase and emerged in a world of vines and plants; the typical foliage certainly looked more magical when compared to the snowy world outside.  
  
A loud rapping sound came from above her, and she saw Marguerite and Parker waving through the glass and smiling. It had snowed early, and as such, Professor Sprout had let first years out on the real roof a month sooner than normal to help clear off the snow. At this moment the two first years were on practically ancient brooms, with smaller brooms in their hands, sweeping last night's snow off the glass. Lucy headed toward the door to meet them as they flew down.  
  
"Parker! What are you doing putting her to work? She's a Ravenclaw, she ought to be off writing a book somewhere."  
  
"She begged me to let her help!" Poor Parker looked flustered and the girls shared a knowing look. It really was far too easy to get the small boy all worked up.  
  
Marguerite giggled and nodded. "You have to try it Lucy, it's great. Besides, it has to be done, its downright spooky down there with all the snow blocking the view."  
  
Lucy nodded. "Are you two close to done?"  
  
"Yup. We were just touching up a few spots where it got icy. And we ought to stop anyway, looks like its going to snow more today."  
  
"Well, want to go for a walk? I feel like I haven't had a chance to talk to you guys in ages."  
  
"Sure. Give me a chance to put the brooms and stuff away, I'll meet you two by the fireplace." With that Parker took Marguerite's brooms and headed off to the tack shed on the far side of the roof. Lucy and Marguerite shrugged and headed down the stairs.  
  
It was a pleasant day, despite the lack of sun, and the trio set out on a roundabout course, skirting the lake. Marguerite chatted on at first, filling in Lucy on the lack of success the Ravenclaw photographer was having in capturing the elusive tail.  
  
"I swear, he must use a spell. Jeremy says one minute he's there, and then he's gone."  
  
Parker had already been filled in on what was happening, but not many other Hogwarts students were being involved. It seemed the same paranoia that had seized Fudge had taken hold of the students that had been held captive; they didn't know whom to trust, so they kept quiet.  
  
"Well, I wouldn't worry. We'll have evidence soon enough, and then hopefully Dumbledore will get rid of the creep."  
  
They nodded and turned their attention back to the lake.  
  
"So Parker, any word from home?"  
  
"My brother and sister are back from the north. Lillian's on duty guarding the ministry, and Arthur won't say exactly where he's been reassigned. Mom's terrified, she thinks it's espionage. But she's happy all her babies will be home for Christmas."  
  
"Really? They both got called back?"  
  
"Mmmhmmm, the ministry isn't saying much in the papers, as you can see, but both Lil and Arthur's entire units got sent back. The force they have watching the island is at one tenth the strength it was at its height."  
  
"Wow. So they either think the island isn't a threat."  
  
"Or that it's a lost cause," Marguerite finished for her.  
  
"Well," Lucy said lightly, seeing the fear creep into the younger students' faces, "I guess that means there will be more people at the Ministry's disposal to protect the people here, huh?"  
  
They nodded, and she decided now was a good time to change the conversation.  
  
"So, Marguerite, anything new and exciting in the world of Ravenclaw?"  
  
The French girl giggled. "Hmm, let's see. They changed the entrance to the library study room after you all met there. I don't think the Hufflepuffs or Gryffindors bothered them, but most everyone was absolutely against letting any Slytherin know how to get in. That of course, got Tabitha in trouble."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Tabitha Williams, she's a fifth year. Anyway, she's got a younger cousin in Slytherin, Lotte Dupree. And well, Tabby's a wiz at most all of her classes, and Lotte has a lot of trouble with Transfig. So Tabitha was tutoring Lotte in that room a couple times a week. I mean, it was better than bringing her to the common room, but when everyone else found out about it they wouldn't let her do it anymore. I guess Tabby picked her times carefully, no one had a clue it was going on. Tabby was awful upset over it too. And I was kind of thinking she was right."  
  
"What did she say?"  
  
"Well, Lotte's big brother is actually one of Lil's superiors, and he's one of the youngest to hold that position. Anyway, Tabitha is an only child, and she's always been fond of her big cousin, looked on him like a brother. So both girls have someone they care about in a position of danger all the time; and Tabby thought that if Ravenclaws were supposed to be so smart that they would see for themselves that now is the time for us to come together, and not let house separations pull us apart."  
  
"She's right."  
  
"Well, not many of the people in our house wanted to hear it. Although, Sergei, Aysha, and some of the others seemed to agree."  
  
Parker nodded. "Makes sense, after all, once you realized that you were all being harassed no matter what house you were in, it seems silly to let house boundaries get in the way of more important things."  
  
Lucy nodded, "So what did Tabby do?"  
  
Marguerite shrugged, "She went on tutoring Lotte in a quiet corner of the library, which caused a little more fuss because now everyone saw a Ravenclaw and Slythering working together. They both rather like the arrangement now, but if it gets too distracting Lotte says they can always try studying in someone's common room."  
  
She giggled and Lucy grinned. "Smart girl."  
  
Parker nodded. "Sometimes I wonder about the founders, whether they were right to set it all up this way. I mean, sure, winning the house cup is a great incentive to work really hard for your house, but look at the problems it causes. The Quidditch players are still talking about all the injuries that happened last year, and a lot of that is due to teams desperate to win a cup for their house, and doing anything to do so."  
  
Lucy nodded, "Maybe the system works well in peaceful times, but when more serious things start to build and that requires people thinking about the bigger picture, and not their house, it just sort of falls apart."  
  
"Someone aught to tell that to Cornelius Fudge."  
  
Lucy and Parker turned toward Marguerite, "What?"  
  
"Fudge, I mean, he's acting the exact same way. He's worried about strangers, foreigners, people who are different, and he's so busy trying to ferret us out and charge us with something that he's losing the opportunity to get help from other nations. I know that the French Minister is furious, and if it weren't for Professor Dumbledore, he would pull all support and close the magical border. And the Eastern Eurpean Ministry feels the same. They feel it would be dishonorable to desert the British Ministry in a time of crisis, but at the same time all of this finger pointing is making them angry. Very angry."  
  
Lucy raised her eyebrow, "I thought there was just one Ministry of Magic?"  
  
Marguerite shook her head, "No, not really. It's just that most of the world's most powerful wizards are in the service of the British Ministry, and there have been so many treaties and aid agreements over the centuries that England does as good as run the rest, they need it. Except for a few, France, for example, is still very strong on its own, and so are the Northeastern European nations, they have a sort of confederation under one minister. That's how the three largest schools got to be Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrongs."  
  
"Really?"  
  
Parker nodded, "I read about it in a History of Quidditch. The Triwizard Tournament used to really be used as a display of Ministry power; they put an enormous amount of pressure on the champions, and every tournament the tasks got harder and harder, just so the winning nation could say that their champion was that much better than the previous champion."  
  
"Like the cold war."  
  
The two first years looked at her, confused.  
  
"Oh, nothing," Lucy waved her hand away, "Just that non-wizards did the same sort of thing during a power struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union, only they used chess."  
  
Parker looked at Marguerite and shrugged, they didn't really understand the connection; after all, no one ever died playing chess. But they smiled and changed the conversation to the coming holidays; Lucy was, after all, new to this world, and she couldn't possibly be expected to understand everything.  
  
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"Well you certainly look pleased with yourself," Seamus commented dryly at a grinning Lucy as they emerged from their last Potions exam before the break. "Did that well, did you?"  
  
Lucy looked up at him, confused for a moment, before realization dawned on her face. "Oh, no, no no no I think I did my usual, but this was not exactly a bright shining moment as far as potions exams goes."  
  
"Than what?"  
  
Lucy grinned, "I figured it out."  
  
Seamus sighed, he had learned to be patient, it often took Lucy several promptings to get the message out. "Figured what out?"  
  
"Well I was trying to figure out the beginning steps for creating the boil curing potion with the limited set of ingredients and time. Now, the essential problem there was that you could use the first ingredient that activated the right part of the immune system to fight off the boils, but you couldn't then follow that with the ingredient that was essential to curing the boils once the immune system was activated; because you would have had to boil that at a higher temperature, and the higher temperature would have negated the effects of the first ingredient."  
  
"Oh yeah, looks like you failed big time Luce."  
  
"Quiet. What you had to find was a carrier, something that would enable the essential cure to work AFTER the modifier had prepped the immune system. That's why you HAD to use the oil of manticore, boil at the proper temperature to preserve the modifier, in this case it was the skunkweed extract, and add the salamander eyes only for the last five minutes. Once the potion was taken, the modifiers would give off enough heat as they worked to ignite the oil of manticore, which would burn and raise the temperature to the proper working level for the salamander eyes to cure the boils."  
  
Seamus shook his head, "And this fits in how? And why are you not getting a good grade on the exam?"  
  
"Well, first off, it means that Diego and I can't use a normal gating spell, one that goes to a location, we always knew that, since finding the school in the void is impossible; we have to use a modifier, like oil of manticore, or, in this case, a PERSON to PERSON gate. If I can gate to, for example, Professor de La Vega, I'll be able to get in. And Diego will be able to gate to me, than we can get out of an energy free environment because Diego will not be drawing energy from the void, but from the reserves on the other side."  
  
"Uh huh, right. And the other part?"  
  
"Oh, that," Lucy shrugged and held up a piece of paper, "I was so busy scribbling down notes on the gating spell that I only finished half of that last problem."  
  
Seamus shook his head and headed back to the dormitory. "Sometimes I worry about you Luce.honestly!"  
  
Lucy shrugged and turned the opposite direction to add her notes quickly to the book she was keeping in the workroom before lunch.  
  
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"Lucy! Sparky boiled all the water out, again!"  
  
Lucy had just entered the room to see Bet kneeling by the old cauldron where her egg was being kept. Lucy groaned and stalked over, picked up the cauldron, and marched through the bookcase into the girls toilet to refill it for the second time this week.  
  
"I don't know how he does it, his temperature has already risen another five degree from last week- where are the gloves?"  
  
Lynx ferreted out a pair of very thick gloves, courtesy of Hagrid, which had been kept in the BA room for the past month after Sparky's temperature rose ten degrees in three days and Lucy had to go to the hospital wing after he burned through her cloak. Her hands had been bandaged for two days and she had felt like a mummy. It took all her self control not to drop Sparky out of Gryffindor Tower for that, and Rasheph had done her the favor of taking notes for her until she got the dexterity of her fingers back.  
  
She carefully placed the piece of pumice in the water, it was their third, which was reinforced with an anti-inflammatory charm so Sparks couldn't burn through it, or at least, that was the theory; the egg found ways of destroying everything. She then took Sparks from where he was smoldering on the stone floor and placed him back on the stone. When all was accomplished and nothing had started smoking, she sat back on her haunches with a sigh and shook her head.  
  
"If I survive this assignment I'm not quite sure what I'll do to this thing whenever it does hatch. And I'm already prepared to kill Hagrid for giving him to me. Hermione's egg isn't this much work."  
  
Rasheph nodded, "Well, if it makes you feel any better, mine is some sort of amphibian, the egg is soft and secretes slime, its disgusting. And don't get me started on the smell."  
  
Bet nodded, "Mine just whines, this horrid, high pitched whine, and no matter where you put it, you can still hear it. I've got to keep in a jar with a silencing charm on it, but it has to be chilled down with ice once a week, and no matter of ear muffs can keep out the noise."  
  
Lucy shook her head, "Yes, but at least neither of your eggs seems out to kill you. Sparky on the other hand."  
  
"Just burned through his pumice." Lynx commented grimly. Lucy cursed and went to the shelf where a large block of pumice sat, and hacked off another piece.  
  
"Now where did I drop the gloves?"  
  
Lynx bent down in the corner to look, and went strangely quiet.  
  
Bet raised her eyebrows, "Well, Lynx, are they back there?"  
  
Two gloves were tossed toward her carelessly, but there wasn't a sound from Lynx.  
  
Lucy fixed Sparky up, and moved the cauldron to try and see what Lynx was looking at.  
  
"There's writing here, or at least, there was. It's been burned or something, I can't make it all out."  
  
"Can you read it at all?"  
  
"Just looks like initials..umm well, here's something, TOotP, anyone have any ideas about what a tootp is? There's a bunch of initials after it, I think, they've been scorched out."  
  
They just looked at each other and shrugged. Lucy sighed and dusted herself off. "Maybe it was some strange, prefect thing. Anyway, come on, shielding first, then Bet work with Lynx and Rasheph with me."  
  
They nodded and left the mysterious message in the floorboards to rest.  
  
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"Lucy.."  
  
"No."  
  
"Lucy, please?"  
  
"For the last time, no. I have to pack myself first."  
  
Hermione growled and went to find someone else to help her pack. She was, as usual, taking home an enormous amount of books which refused to fit into her trunk.  
  
Lucy was too excited about actually going home to want to take any amount of time to help her. The Circle had things for her to do, which was understandable since she had shirked any real responsibility since her arrival back at Hogwarts in September. They had, however, promised that she would be back at home for Christmas, which was all she wanted. Desolate and eerie as Espiritu was at the moment, it was home, and she didn't plan on being anywhere else for Christmas if she could help it.  
  
She was flying to Seville to get her work order from the Guild Officer there. She would probably be sent to another school for a few days, maybe a week, but she was guaranteed her freedom by the 24th at the latest. It might mean gating to Espiritu, which she wasn't wild about, but if that was the only way, so be it.  
  
"Anyone home?" There was a knock on the door Hermione had left open, and Lucy turned from the carnage around her bed to see Seamus grinning in the doorway. He shook his head as he picked his way across the floor.  
  
"I don't understand girls. What's the big packing deal? You throw in a few robes, some socks and clean underwear, and toss your toothbrush on the top. How does that require all this?"  
  
Lucy shook her head, "You are a simple, simple creature, aren't you?"  
  
He shrugged. "So you're really going back, huh?"  
  
"You think I would stay here of my own will?"  
  
"Well, I mean, you came back, didn't you?"  
  
"I came back to learn, not because I have any deep and abiding love for this place. It's dark, damp, cold, smells funny, and I haven't seen the sun in eight days. I want to go HOME."  
  
"Ok, ok, point taken." Seamus looked around and noticed a small, smoking sealed cauldron on the floor.  
  
"What is that?"  
  
"Oh! Thanks, I almost forgot. Hagrid agreed to watch Sparks for me. I'm flying economy class, and he'll never get through security, let alone customs. I promised I'd bring him over this morning. I'd better do that now before he gets too busy."  
  
She hopped clumsily out of her pile of clothes, books, and everything else she couldn't live without over the break, put on the gloves she had taken out of the BA room, and carefully started for the door.  
  
Seams sighed and went back to finish his brief packing, leaving a small package neatly in the bottom of Lucy's trunk.  
  
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"Out of the way! Out of the way! Lady with a baby!" Lucy made her way through halls bustling with students as they began to say goodbyes, dashed for last minute borrowed items that needed to be un-borrowed, and generally stood in her way. She finally managed to slip out a side door and make her way across the grounds, wishing fervently that she had remembered a scarf or a sweater of some sort. She knocked on Hagrid's door, only to here him answer, "I'm around back!"  
  
"Oh, Lucy, right, right, bring the little angel over here."  
  
"He's hardly an angel Hagrid. You're sure you don't mind?"  
  
"Not at all, not at all. Wouldn't want anything to happen to him. Truth be told I think this feller got put in with my shipment as a mistake. Usually phoenixes are a bit touchy to put in a class rearing set, but he's a little bit smaller than most, must have been a runt. Cryin' shame too, phoenix usually don't lay more than three in their life, mother must have been a little disappointed."  
  
"There's nothing wrong with Sparks," Lucy crossed her arms and pouted, not at all sure why she was defending the damn egg, but for some reason she didn't like Hagrid spitting on her charge.  
  
"I didn' say there were, Lucy," Hagrid smiled a bit to himself. "Why don't you leave him next to the back door in that cauldron, snow should keep him from burning the hut down till I get all ye youngsters sended off."  
  
Lucy raised her eyebrows, but said nothing and made sure she set the cauldron in a large drift.  
  
"Merry Christmas Sparky old boy," she gave the cauldron a little pat and trotted back towards the main door of the castle instead of the way she came, taking advantage of the path already made in the snow.  
  
When she re-entered the castle, there was pure bedlam, and in the center of it she saw the Lane brothers and Aysha, gathered around a large paper posted next to the doors to the Great Hall.  
  
She spotted Svetlana Kornakovitch and tugged on her arm. "What's going on?"  
  
Svetlana rolled her eyes toward the poster. "More nonsense from the Ministry's new Department of Interior Security. Basically they are instituting a new set of requirements for traveling in and out of the border. And they are making them effective as of yesterday."  
  
"Which means?"  
  
"We get to spend the entire train ride sequestered in the back couple of cars while they get our paperwork clear. Without it they won't let you through the barrier at Kings Cross."  
  
"You've got to be kidding me?"  
  
"Wish I was. That Fudge has finally lost it this time, if he spent half as much time checking his own people as he does the ones coming in, this whole problem would be nipped in the bud."  
  
Lucy rolled her eyes. "I bet it takes forever for us to get back through in January as well."  
  
"Looks like it."  
  
"We ought to mutiny."  
  
"If only we had the time. I've got to be at Heathrow in time to catch my plane, don't you?"  
  
She nodded, "It was just a thought. I mean, how much more of this are we going to take?"  
  
Svetlana shrugged, "You have to remember Lucy, this isn't exactly the kind of democracy you grew up in. I mean, we don't exactly have many rights in this system, but if we want to go to school here, we have to accept that that's the way things are."  
  
Lucy pouted, "Well the way things are bites."  
  
Svetlana chuckled and nodded, and Lucy followed her back to the common room to finish her packing.  
  
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You could hear her swearing from the other end of the train. Seamus was tucked in with Dean and Toni Turner, the sixth year Ravenclaw he had been dating since the spring. They had finished a hand of exploding snap when a loud and vulgar oath echoed through the compartment. And since they were fairly close to the front of the train, and the international students were in the back cars, that was no small feat.  
  
"I don't envy those Ministry chaps one bit. With the Lane brothers, those Russian Slytherins, and Lucy to deal with, they are going to wish they never started this." Dean opened a chocolate frog and meticulously bit its wiggling legs off.  
  
Toni snorted in disgust. "You left out Aysha, she was fuming this morning when she found out. Absolutely livid. I felt bad for her, she and her family have had it rough. This used to be the place where she was easily accepted. Her parents are really frightened."  
  
Dean and Seamus looked up, "Why?"  
  
"The paperwork", Toni scooped up a handful of Bertie Bott's and began to pick though for a safe looking one. At the boys blank stares she shook her head. "You know, that idea of a Muggle History course being made mandatory before graduation isn't really such a bad idea. When Aysha's parents were growing up, and even when Aysha was young, they had to carry identification papers everywhere. South Africa systematically separated the races. You were identified as black or white or Indian or a mix. And you were treated accordingly. Before apartheid was ended Aysha had never left Soweto. Her extended family had been sent away to a homeland before she was born and it was just her and her parents in a tiny little house. Aysha getting her letter and getting a way out of there was like a miracle. Now Aysha has to carry papers again. She told me her parents are thinking about Beauxbatons very seriously. It means that much to them."  
  
Dean looked at Toni curiously. "How do you know about all of this?"  
  
Toni shrugged, "I guess my elementary school felt current events were very important. My parents went to hear Nelson Mandela speak once. Being Muggle born does give you a window into the real world, I'll say that for it."  
  
Seamus and Dean looked at each other, but said nothing. Besides the sounds of an angry latina coming from the back car, it was quiet all the way to London.  
  
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They had searched her bags. It was a complete violation of her privacy. Fortunately, the important things, her mirrors, her ring, the amulet, looked like harmless baubles, and were passed over. But that didn't mean she didn't take every opportunity to harass the ministry officials for this incredible waste of her time. Every second that the fat balding man in front of her spent filling out documents, in triplicate, which were an average of three feet long, he spent in what onlookers could only imagine was the depths of deepest despair. When he finally sighed, stamped Lucy's documents, and sent her down the car to the next official she needed to see, those waiting behind her breathed a sigh of relief. At least she had been able to avoid physical violence- during some of the questioning one of the Slytherins had been pushed to the end of his rope and snapped the official's quill in half. Since Dmitri was a strong lad, the students were afraid he might do the same to the ministry chap, but Sasha managed to get him through the rest of the interview with no further incident.  
  
As she waited, trunk standing upended next to her, to be questioned or searched or whatever the ministry had in store for her in the next car, Warren Lane, who had finished his immigration process, approached her.  
  
Running a hand through his hair and giving her a sympathetic grin, he offered her a chocolate frog. Lucy accepted but didn't eat it, waiting for Warren to say whatever it was he was pbviously not wanting to say.  
  
"You know, Lucy, it's not that we don't appreciate you fighting the good fight and all of that, but, well."  
  
"You'd rather I did it with my mouth shut?" Lucy eyed him carefully.  
  
"It's just that you might not exactly be helping yourself this way."  
  
Lucy gave him a penetrating stare, "What do you mean, Lane?"  
  
The tall Aussie sighed and pulled a small envelope out of his bag.  
  
"We got some of the photos developed. And while we still can't pin it on this fellow, at least not yet, but we will."  
  
"Oh just spit it out!"  
  
"There were a lot of you. Of you being followed to the same hall. On several occasions, see, your clothes are different."  
  
Lucy was speechless as she watched herself carefully make her way down one of the hallways on her route to get to Asriel's workroom. Sure enough, just far enough behind her not to make him noticeable, and probably silent as the snow, was the stranger from Halloween.  
  
At seeing Lucy, usually incredibly and loudly verbal, struck dumb, Warren felt a brotherly need to soften the blow. He clapped her on the shoulder awkwardly, and smiled.  
  
"Look, its really nothing we didn't know before, right? I, we, just thought that since he seems to be following you often, maybe you should try not to give them any more reasons to give you a second glance, hmmm?"  
  
Lucy gave him a rueful smile, "You know fitting in isn't my strong point Warren."  
  
The tall boy laughed, "Like any of us is a master. It was just a thought."  
  
They were just trying to help, she reminded herself. "Thanks Lane, really, but if Harriet Beecher Stowe, or Thomas Payne, or Emma Goldman had just shut up and done what was best for themselves, I wouldn't be who I am today. Besides, they expect me to be a wild, uncontrollable heathen; I don't want to disappoint them."  
  
Warren didn't have a chance to respond, since at that point the line moved and Lucy had to start arranging her multitude of brightly colored documents for the grim looking woman waiting to steer her on to the next part of the process.  
  
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It was, needless to say, a long, tense train ride. After she had made her way through the incredibly long, inefficient, unnecessary process she had slumped down in a crowded compartment with Marguerite, Lorenzo, Audrey and Karen Su, and Wesley Lane. Fortunately, although they were still confined to the special cars, the little witch with the food cart seemed very capable of passing that border, and Lorenzo had treated their whole compartment to chocolate frogs and the like.  
  
It was a tight squeeze though. As it was Lucy and Marguerite were sitting on the floor, and everyone was either on top of or in between baggage. But chocolate can indeed cure almost everything, and Lucy found herself quite capable of dozing off after a frog or three.  
  
Upon their arrival at King's Cross another group of Ministry men met them at the door to their cars, and things were checked in triplicate before the students were allowed to take their luggage and exit through the barrier. By then, just about everyone else on the train had already left.  
  
Lucy was just about to look around for a cart when Marguerite squealed next to her, making her jump. No sooner had she turned around then she saw the blond child streak across the platform and hurl herself at a young man with curly blond hair and her eyes. Lucy took this to be the much talked of Andre, and pushed the cart over with Marguerite's trunk hauled on top of her own.  
  
".So Mama sent me instead. She said that by the time you get settled in they will be back from the meeting and THEN we will discuss vacation."  
  
Marguerite was bouncing with excitement, and Lucy was taken aback at how much younger she looked now. The French first year had only ever seemed small, innocent, and vulnerable on that first train ride. Almost as soon as she had entered the castle what Lucy could only assume was training and diplomatic instinct took over, making the eleven year old seem more like she was thirty. But now, safely back with her older brother again, the walls dropped and Marguerite Ducasse had a chance to be a child again. Lucy was glad for her.  
  
"We're going to grandmother's chalet for the holidays! Mama and Papa will still have to work in London, but they can apparate there, naturally, so they didn't see any reason to keep Andre and I cooped up in the townhouse! Isn't it great?"  
  
Lucy grinned, "Sounds wonderful. I'm sure you'll have a great time."  
  
After she was introduced quickly to the devastatingly handsome Andre Ducasse and Marguerite's trunk was squared away, Lucy gave the girl a hug and waved her off. She then headed out into King's Cross and towards the nearest rest room. Once safely inside she opened her trunk and slowly and reverently unfolded several pristine white garments from where they had lain untouched all year. It was time to go home. 


	11. Chapter Eleven: Feliz Navidad

Chapter Eleven: Felize Navidad  
  
"Well, I guess you seem to have survived."  
  
"Don't sound so happy Thomas, please, it's embarrassing."  
  
"Oh hell, you know I'm glad to see you. We were just sort of hoping maybe you would come to your senses after a couple months back and decide not to return."  
  
"We?"  
  
"Well, you know, I see quite a bit of Marie and Aislan, they pop in and out."  
  
"And they should have told you plenty about my stubborn nature. Even if they'd been hanging me by my toenails back there I would have stuck it out."  
  
"Well, you can't blame a guy for hoping. Anyway, you better go check in."  
  
"Check in?"  
  
"Well, darling, you're not staying in my room, your assignment probably won't start till tomorrow, so I'd say you've got a housing issue on you hands. You can find the alma in her office right about now if you're lucky, before she starts making evening rounds. It's in the big corridor off the courtyard with the lion fountain, third on the left."  
  
"Right, will I see you later?"  
  
"Naturally, you'll want all the news, and I'll want to tell it, and the boys will have plenty of sangria; which, since you are probably going to be given a stinky assignment, you will want to avail yourself of. I'll find you later, good luck!"  
  
Lucy headed down the hall in the opposite direction of Thomas, stopping when she passed the right courtyard, and crossed it to take the hallway leading off the other side. She found the office of the Seville Acadamy alma, or head housekeeper, and knocked.  
  
"Si?"  
  
She pushed open the door to see a positively ancient woman sitting behind a small, fancy desk, making check marks in a large ledger.  
  
"Disculpame Senora." Lucy paused as she looked for any sign of the woman's name.  
  
"I'm just called Therese around here, chica, and you must be Lucy Montero."  
  
Lucy's mouth fell open. "How did you know that?"  
  
The woman looked down her nose at Lucy and rose from the desk. "What, without the aid of Thomas reminding me three times today that you are coming? Well, there's the fact that you are wearing a uniform of the unmistakable Espiritu pattern. And since everyone knows there are only two Espiritu left with us and you are obviously not the chicano, well, it stands to reason that you are Lucy Montero, of Espiritu, and that you probably need a bed tonight. And a meal, too, I daresay. Dios only knows what they are feeding you in that school of yours."  
  
"It's not mine," Lucy said automatically.  
  
Therese gave her a sharp look, "I'm glad to hear it. Yes, very glad. Well, come on, let's get you checked in."  
  
"This doesn't require paperwork of any sort, does it?" Lucy spoke with a little trepidation, thinking of the three pounds of forms she was lugging around the world with her, courtesy of the Ministry of Magic's Department of Interior Security.  
  
"Paperwork," spat Therese, "As if I didn't have enough to do looking after these devils, the things they get into, I could keep you up three days straight with the student's exploits this year alone! And the teachers? They're as bad as their students, learn from each other, that's what they do.In any case, what would we do with the stuff, with all the people we get coming through here? No, not at all. If the protections they have up around this place let you in, that's all I need to know. Any soul that can get through THAT, is perfectly welcome to a bed, a bath, and a hot meal. Now the female students' dormitory is just up these stairs..Lord they do get higher every day, and not like it does us much good to separate them any more..the ways those boys figure out how to get across the courtyard are scandalous, leaping like monkeys, scrambling over bridges and boards.I'd just as soon let them all pick their own rooms and save myself the trouble of waking the help when someone finally does fall and land headfirst in the Fonticelli fountain at midnight on a Sunday.here we are at last, those are the current student rooms, and this is the visitor's dormitory, not much in the way of privacy I'm afraid, but you do have the nicest bathroom, just through that door there. Dinner will be on starting in about and hour, you'll want to see the Guild Officer about your assignment before then, its poker night I believe and he won't be in his office after the meal. All set then, take any bed you want, and if anyone of the opposite sex tries to come through that window, push him back out. They're getting downright ROWDY, that's what."  
  
And with that, Therese took her exit, lighting lamps and scooping up dirty towels on her way out, and muttering on the whole time as if Lucy was still next to her.  
  
She surveyed the room. There was, as the woman had said, very little privacy. The visitor dormitory was one long room, with beds lining either side, and a door to the bathroom on the far wall. A glance inside showed that one could walk right through the bathroom and into the student dormitories, which had dividing walls and were, as could be expected, more private. But there were warm quilts on the beds, and a fireplace on the wall at the far end, which was quite a ways from the bathroom, with a cozy sofa near it and several chairs.  
  
Lucy took a bed by the window, and looked down into the long and narrow courtyard she had walked through last summer on Thomas's quick tour. Looking down gave her a view of the courtyard and a goldfish pond, but looking directly across gave her a view straight into the men's dormitory. There were, she noticed, a few joking and lewd signs hung between windows offering what Lucy was sure Therese would deem 'rowdy' invitations from the boys to whomever of their female co-eds happened to be reading them.  
  
She smiled to herself, dropped her trunk, and headed out to the Guild office.  
  
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She cooled her heels for the better part of half an hour outside the door, until, finally, a tall blond haired girl with a slightly disgruntled look on her face emerged, leaving the door open behind her and nodding for Lucy to go on in.  
  
She again faced the officer she had seen earlier in the year. Who obviously didn't' remember her.  
  
"Name please?"  
  
"Montero, Lucy."  
  
"Hmmm, Montero, Montero..no, that's Montegrino, Monteniza..Montezuma, too far, ahh, here we are! Lucille Montero.Espiritu- ah, I saw you this summer, didn't I?"  
  
"Yes, I believe you did."  
  
"Very good. Have a seat then. You're looking for your holiday assignment I presume?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Well, hang on a moment, they got scrambled at the last minute, the updates are in another file.." as he spoke several piles of folders floated across the room easily, and Lucy noted that the officer easily rifled through them while keeping his hands resting on top of her file. She sighed and settled back into the chair. It was nice to see the things she had grown up with being used so easily. It just fit, in a way it never would at Hogwarts. In a way SHE never would at Hogwarts.  
  
She shoved the last thought aside as a file slid out and opened itself in front of him. He picked up the paper and scanned it, nodding and smiling at her over the parchment.  
  
"Well, this all seems to be in order. You like climbing, don't you, Ms Montero?"  
  
Lucy raised an eyebrow, "Why is that important?"  
  
"Well, as it happens you were going to be assigned to the Sahara school, it's about time for them to take one of their longer treks, and it's not the best time for travel, but gating really isn't good for the animals, and they did so much of it last year. but just recently it seems a bout of some sickness has affected a significant portion of the assigned masters in the Congo Conservatory. Looks like sleeping sickness, yellow fever, malaria, I honestly don't know. They should be fine, but epidemics are touchy things as it is, and when a few of the Medicinals became ill they started isolating the whole lot. They're bringing in several Medicine candidates and their mentors to handle it, but they are coming up short as far as working masters are concerned. It's not terribly magically draining, just patrols, but it is an essential part of the school, especially given recent events in local government. You're being sent down for scout duty until the 23rd. After that you have your vacation time to yourself until the summer."  
  
Lucy shrugged, it could have been worse. She could have gotten Siberia. She reached out to accept the summons and sign it after the officer placed his seal at the bottom.  
  
"Present that to Kiplin, he's in charge of the masters down there. He'll get you squared away. Tomorrow, eight a.m. sharp."  
  
Lucy nodded, and left, understanding why the girl before her had looked so disgruntled. It was full summer in the Congo right now, and Lucy had the distinct feeling she was going to be wet, hot, and miserable.  
  
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Itchy. She had forgotten about itchy. But the mosquitoes of the area had made short work of reminding her. Even though she was wearing a very smelly ointment pressed upon her by a few veteran scouts, the bites continued to itch. And multiply.  
  
She was crouched high in a tree, her eyes peeled and her shields at a minimum so she would be as sensitive as possible to the entrance of strangers to the area; and she was very uncomfortable. Just when she thought her entire body was going to go numb-  
  
**Move on.**  
  
The command came from Reggie, one of the few remaining veteran scouts, and who was in charge of her group. At his signal, broadsent to the whole group, the four other individuals in the trees began to walk out along the branches to their very tips, hovering a great deal for balance and stability, and then step easily to the next level. However, trees didn't always cooperate, and a bit of climbing was required.  
  
For her part, Lucy kept a keen eye on Victoria, a 19 year old from Ethiopia, who's position was parallel to her own, but about a quarter of a mile away. They were moving north along the western perimeter about five miles out from the main school complex. Lucy was the farthest out, then Victoria half a mile in, then Reggie, Celeste, from India, and Li, from Kiyoto. Lucy was farthest out because she had less experience, and it would be illogical for her to be the last line of defense, but her senses did stretch farther, so despite the touchy situation, they put her on point, with Victoria a little closer than normal, in case she got in trouble.  
  
When they had moved, slowly and cautiously, another mile out, Reggie signaled a stop, and Lucy found herself a comfortable sitting spot in the tree. Once Reggie felt safe, which could take a minute or an hour, they would move on. They would gradually move more towards the northeast, and finally due east, and meet with the group that headed north along the eastern border this morning. They would travel together back to the main compound.  
  
She hadn't been idle long when she sensed something. something that didn't belong. And whomever it was wasn't far. She quieted herself as much as possible, and stretched her senses.  
  
The band of guerillas wasn't hard to find, at least not for someone who was gifted. Lucy was certain whomever the rebels were patrolling for wouldn't know they were there until it was too late, but they could have been easily spotted even by the younger students who weren't eligible for patrol duty yet.  
  
**Victoria?**  
  
**I feel 'em. You want me to spook?**  
  
Lucy shook her head, not caring that Victoria couldn't see it. From a few key markings on the tattered uniforms, and the general images she gleaned from their minds, the intruders were from the same group they had run off yesterday. Victoria was an empath, a damn good one, and after only about 2 minutes of focused work she had made yesterdays group, and the group the day before that, turn tail and head back about two miles before continuing to trek southward. But spooking hadn't been keeping them from coming back. Lucy suspected that, like a parent with a frightened child, whomever these men, and one woman, she noted grimly, were reporting to wasn't buying the 'monster in the closet' story. They needed to give them something more concrete as an excuse not to venture any further through this area. Lucy had been having the beginnings of an idea yesterday, and she decided it was worth proposing.  
  
**No, spooking doesn't seem to be working. However-** she switched to a broader train of though to include the rest of the group in the discussion.  
  
**Reggie, did you notice the chimps?**  
  
**Sure, they're always around, sometimes they follow us a bit, but when we stop for too long they move off. Why?**  
  
**Well, if we could get THEM to harass the guerillas enough, it would be a more solid reason to avoid the area than bad mojo.**  
  
Victoria's mind voice was enthusiastic. **You know, if we were able to get the idea across to them exactly what would happen to their home if a fight ever broke out here, it might be enough to get them to continually harass these guys if they decide to come back.**  
  
Celeste sounded tired. **It would be one less thing for us to look out for.**  
  
**It would require less energy, which is also wise,** this from Li, who usually never spoke at all.  
  
**Lucy, they study animal mindspeech at Espiritu, don't they?**  
  
**I can get through to anything with enough intelligence.**  
  
**Well, you're not going to have any trouble with chimps then, are you?**  
  
**Provided one of you can find them, you know their movements better than I.**  
  
It took a few minutes, but Reggie felt out where in the canopy the group was, and it was a simple matter for Lucy to explain what they wanted to do. It was remarkable how lucid their thoughts were, and how easily they understood what she told them. All in all the dialogue took less than five minutes.  
  
**All right Reg, they seem to get the idea, now we just have to wa-**  
  
She HAD been about to say they needed to wait, but before she had finished the chimps were swarming above the fighters, throwing sticks and rocks at them, running up and down the trees, and generally harassing the hell out of them. It took less than ten minutes before they turned around.  
  
**Well, lets hope it worked. I still wanna stay a little longer around here to make sure they keep going. We've made good time, we can afford it.**  
  
Lucy thought longingly of a bath and bed that awaited her back in the visiting masters dormitory, but said nothing. She was lucky she had only been here a short time. Li was on assignment here until the epidemic broke. The Congo was usually great if you were here to study, but working was another story. The area was patrolled during the night as well, and that was another thing Lucy could thank the little gods she only had to do twice. You had to have impeccable night vision and she had fallen three times for the lack of it. So she sighed and settled herself in for a long afternoon. Long, and painful, as she gave a glance at the pink bumps multiplying all over every available skin surface.  
  
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"Ow."  
  
"Now don't be a baby, dear. You're lucky there's anyone available to look after you with an epidemic on our hands and all."  
  
"It still hurts."  
  
"Well it will feel better soon."  
  
"How can it possibly feel better, it's in a vat of boiling water."  
  
"Just leave it there, and don't move it or I'll have to do this all over again. Someone will check on you in half an hour."  
  
"Half an hour!"  
  
But the tall, elegant Medicinal, who was from a village not far from here, had already left by that time. Lucy, who, so Reggie had discovered, had been bitten by something other than the mosquitoes, was not enjoying the anti-venom 'field treatment' for the spider bite. But field treatments could be cooked up by anyone who knew what herbs to use, were quick, and didn't require the use of a healing gift. It was all the Medicinals could offer the scouts who weren't suffering from the illness. So Lucy growled at her slightly green foot where it sat in the tub of very hot, very smelly water; and pouted.  
  
"Well, well, well. Look what the panthers dragged in."  
  
She looked up into the tired but still laughing eyes of Aislan Murphy.  
  
"Aislan! What are you doing here?"  
  
The tall girl with the pixie cut blond hair grinned and rolled her eyes toward the door. "In case you haven't noticed Luce, there's an epidemic out there. Marie and I were brought in to get a little battle training."  
  
"Marie? Where- "  
  
"She's still in deep trance watching one of the seniors work on a really bad case. She should be out in a few hours, although she'll probably want to head right to bed. So now it's my turn, what are YOU doing here?"  
  
"In case you haven't noticed , there's an epidemic out there. And about a dozen guerilla scout troops circling this area. The Guild sent me down to supplement the scout force until you quacks can get them back on their feet."  
  
"So where's Deigo?"  
  
"Very comfortably set up in Egypt I imagine, the louse."  
  
"Do you get to go home?"  
  
"Tomorrow. I'm going to pick up Don Juan and then we're making for the American Southwest like there's no tomorrow. Wanna come?"  
  
Aislan laughed and shook her head. "No thanks, I've been to that place of yours at night in the winter. No, the rest of Chadwicks is meeting up in Bombay on Christmas Eve, and our taskmaster has promised us we can get out by then."  
  
Lucy nodded, "It'll be, good, to be together."  
  
Aislan gave her a searching look. "It's not going to be just you two is it?"  
  
Lucy shrugged, "Who else would it be?"  
  
Aislan sighed, "I mean, I thought you might go to, um."  
  
"Our families?" Lucy gave her a wry grin. "I don't think that would make for a restful holiday. But don't worry, we'll find them soon enough. I've got an idea that I think will work. I just need some time to work it out with the D man."  
  
Aislan nodded, "Well, in that case, I better give you your presents now. No opening till Christmas morning though. That's cheating." She pulled two small wrapped packages out of her robes.  
  
Lucy accepted them with a rueful grin, "You didn't have to, you know."  
  
"Well, I am sort of expecting a similar gesture in return you know."  
  
"They're in my cell, er, room. I'll make sure they get to you before you leave."  
  
"When are you taking off?"  
  
"Tomorrow. As soon as my foot turns a semi-normal color."  
  
"How has it been, you know, among the wild people of the north?"  
  
"I'm pretty much just as unwelcome as ever, but at least I have company."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Mmmhmmm. First, the government is making it next to impossible to live there if you have citizenship in another country. So there's about 60 students at least whose lives have become very inconvenient."  
  
"And second?"  
  
"I can't really say. But well, let me put it this way. The little gods work in mysterious ways."  
  
Aislan gave her a look, that look that all healers got eventually, when they were simultaneously evaluating your physical condition and how you were behaving. Lucy stuck out her tongue and crossed her eyes.  
  
"I'm not your patient, doctor."  
  
"You sound busy." From her voice it was obvious she had heard a lot more than that.  
  
Lucy shrugged. "Who isn't?"  
  
It was obvious she wasn't going to get the answers she wanted, so Aislan backed off.  
  
"Fine, fine. Don't tell me. But if you ever need any help, you know Marie and I are here."  
  
"Aren't you busy enough?"  
  
"Who isn't? But this is family we're talking about."  
  
Lucy grinned. "I suppose you're right, I am stuck with you. So, is it true Marie's been dating a Maintainer candidate?"  
  
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"I thought I was going to meet her."  
  
"You'll meet her another time."  
  
"There may not be another time."  
  
"Of course there will."  
  
"I think you've made her up."  
  
"Lucy."  
  
"Is Zahra a boy?"  
  
"Lucy!"  
  
"Well I don't -"  
  
"She went to Greece to visit her mother's family, is that so hard to understand? She left a week ago, what do you think I'm doing, HIDING her from you?"  
  
Lucy just looked at him and raised an eyebrow.  
  
"She's in the closet, isn't she?"  
  
"Argh! Come on, we'll be late and have to fly home. It'll take the whole holiday to work off the jet lag."  
  
Lucy was taking great delight in the fact that Diego was sputtering for the first time in years. Diego never sputtered. She decided she had punished him enough and silently followed him out of his room and down to the Departure Room, where one of the regulars at the Cairo school was going to gate them home.  
  
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It was the quietest Christmas Eve that Lucy could remember. Even last year at Hogwarts she had been surrounded by more people than she was now.  
  
Not that she minded. There was a peace and acceptance that Lucy felt when she was at home that she didn't think she would ever really find at Hogwarts. It wasn't quite the prison she had imagined it to be last year, but it just wasn't home.  
  
She smiled to herself as she pulled her knit cap down lower over her ears and adjusted her sweatshirt before climbing back up the ladder with a fresh bucket of spackle. She and Diego had spent most of the previous day and that afternoon looking after the buildings. There was still a lot of damage, all cosmetic, thank the little gods, that they were busy repairing.  
  
At the moment she was inside the rooms of Marcela and David Engroff and their son Austin, who had been born over a year ago, in July. Actually, as Lucy had realized with a pang, now the suite belonged to just David and Austin. Marcela Engroff had been killed in the attack and lay now with the other eleven victims in the Espiritu cemetery. But she pushed that memory aside as she set about filling in the ugly, gaping holes in the stone wall just behind Austin's crib. Besides the walls and a little paint, this room was almost completely repaired. The bed had been stripped, the mattress aired, and the wooden four-poster fixed, sanded, and polished. The bed was made now, with a brightly colored quilt folded at the end near the trunk that held still more blankets.  
  
Lucy shivered, she could use a blanket right now. They hadn't been lighting any fires in the rooms they were working in, it wasn't necessary, and the Engroff apartment was very cold at the moment. She carefully puttied up her last hole, making sure the spackle was flat and even, and put the cap on the can. She could do the touch up painting tomorrow. She rolled up her drop cloth, closed the shutters she had opened to let in light and air, and sat Austin's teddy bear back up in the crib before finally leaving the room with a sigh.  
  
One down, a couple dozen more to go.  
  
She hurried back to her own room, blessedly warm, to change out of her painting clothes into jeans and a sweater, and pulled out her warm gloves. Then all she had to do was follow her nose to the Alvarez apartment to find out what Diego was making for dinner. Or at least, trying to make.  
  
"It smells."  
  
"Delicious."  
  
"Um."  
  
"Mouth watering."  
  
"Um."  
  
"Delectable?"  
  
"Burnt, was what I was going to say."  
  
Lucy eyed the pot that Diego stood over.  
  
"How can you manage to burn macaroni?'  
  
"I defy logic."  
  
"You certainly do." Lucy carefully walked over to the stove to survey the damage. "I'm not sure that's edible."  
  
"Sure it is."  
  
"I'm not eating that."  
  
"Then what do you supposed we eat?"  
  
"This!" Lucy held up a large basket she had left outside the door.  
  
"Where did that come from?"  
  
"Peru," Lucy chirped cheerfully. "Sophia sent it to us, but it is not without strings."  
  
Diego's eyebrow shot up, "What kind of strings?"  
  
"The official, very binding, can't ever be cut kind. I didn't open it yet, but there is an official message in there for the Council Reps."  
  
"That's us, right?"  
  
"You're quick, yes that's us. Let's leave it till tomorrow, I'm starved." She quickly began to unpack a turkey with trimmings and potatoes, vegetables, and bread."  
  
"No cranberry sauce, almost perfect, oh well, at least I came prepared." Lucy pulled a can of cranberry sauce out of the cupboard."  
  
"Um, Luce that might be kind of old."  
  
"First of all, this stuff lasts forever, and second, this, is new. I picked it up when I went into town to get the spackle. I got the last can at the market."  
  
"Congratulations, let's eat."  
  
The food was very good, and the official message was tucked inside Lucy's stocking to be opened the next morning. After supper the young pair set about decorating the 'tree.'  
  
It had been a little late in the season to find a decent, and cheap Christmas tree, and most of the local farms had been cleaned out. There weren't any naturally growing conifers in that part of New Mexico, but Lucy had insisted that they decorate something. So, rather painfully, they had dug up the largest cactus they could manage and floated it back to the school. Lighting it was a bit prickly, to say the least, but the hanging of the ornaments was pretty easily accomplished due to the plants long spines.  
  
Lucy collapsed exhausted onto the sofa and sighed. "It's beautiful."  
  
Diego was placing ointment on his hands and wrapping them in gauze. "It's painful."  
  
"Didn't anyone ever tell you that pain is beauty?"  
  
"Doesn't seem to work for hockey players."  
  
"Stop, you're ruining it."  
  
Diego gave her a look.  
  
"What, what's that face?"  
  
"It's not that I don't appreciate the enthusiasm Luce, really, but this is never going to be a Leave it To Beaver Christmas, and you know it."  
  
Lucy surveyed the room, the burnt macaroni, the glowing cactus, the two presents beneath it, the two stockings hung by the fireplace, and Rosa's old record player playing an even older album of carols.  
  
"All right, all right, so it's not exactly out of a Norman Rockwell painting. Trust me, anything beats being at Hogwarts."  
  
"I know, its just weird."  
  
"I think we did all right. We have the essentials, well, almost all of them. We're just missing the snow, and the little poppers, and that big plastic Santa Claus Tony used to put on his roof." Which made Lucy realize just how much SHE missed the last thing they were missing. The family.  
  
"Sorry, I mean, I was alone last year, I forgot this was your first Christmas without them."  
  
They fell into a silence, Diego staring at the cactus and Lucy picking at a loose thread from the couch, trying to fix it. Diego watched her and realized just how hard she HAD been trying to fix things. She'd spent all her time fixing rooms and windows and ladders, but she had still insisted they have a normal Christmas. As normal as they could get. And that didn't mean she didn't miss them as much as he did.  
  
He reached over and pulled her into his shoulder.  
  
"Hey, you did great. I mean, we uprooted a cactus, how many people get to do that for Christmas Eve?"  
  
Lucy grinned, "Merry Christmas."  
  
"Feliz Navidad."  
  
They fell asleep watching the fire go down and listening to Frank Sinatra sing off Diego's mother's record player.  
  
"Someday soon, we all will be together. If the fates allow. Until then, we'll have to muddle through, somehow. So have yourself a merry little Christmas now." 


	12. Chapter Twelve: Takin' Care of Business

Chapter Twelve: Takin' Care of Business  
  
"This isn't fair."  
  
"You keep saying that, I wonder what your standard for comparison is?"  
  
"We're supposed to be on vacation."  
  
At the moment Lucy was only half visible, her head and torso concealed from view as she rummaged through the wardrobe in Alejandro's room, desperately trying to find the other Espiritu Ambassador cloak. She had hers, it had been sent last year just after the attack and before she knew that Diego was still alive. Diego, apparently, had not been sent his cloak, probably because he was with a nomadic school that tried to travel light. Tasera and Alejandro had been the Espiritu ambassadors before the school fell apart, and since Lucy was certain her cloak had been Tasera's, there was just this last place to look to find the other.  
  
"Found it!" Triumphantly she emerged from the wooden wardrobe, her arms full of blue. The Espiritu Council and Guild color was sapphire blue, and the cloaks were trimmed in white to indicate the school's status and age. They were also ancient and Lucy wrinkled her nose at the smell.  
  
"This one could use a good airing out and a bucket of Fabreeze."  
  
"No time I'm afraid. We'll just be the smelly, inexperienced members this time."  
  
They were in a rush because the message from the Circle had been of much greater importance than they had imagined it to be. When Lucy finally remembered it late Christmas night, after several glasses of eggnog, one glance was all it had taken to turn her stone sober.  
  
The Circle was calling for high council on the 27th. That meant that every school had to send its Ambassadors, and the things had been known to go on for weeks.  
  
And neither Lucy nor Diego had ever served as an Ambassador at high council. At most they had been allowed to sit in on more focused councils with their mentors, but since neither Antolin de La Vega or Jerome Giraldi had served as an Espiritu Ambassador in the past 20 years, this was going to be a totally new experience.  
  
"You don't think they'll laugh out loud, will they?" Lucy frowned at the dust on the cloak and began to nervously dust it with her hand.  
  
"Given our present circumstances, no, I don't think so. In fact, it will be a miracle if they listen to us at all."  
  
"Maybe we better let you do all the talking." She paused and doused the lights and fire in the room as they made their way back toward their end of the compound.  
  
"Me? Why me? You know the professor always said you were more persuasive."  
  
"First of all, you're the empath. And second, have you forgotten where I go to school? I am studying at Hogwarts against the express wishes of Machu Pichu and the rest of the Circle. I'm the black sheep."  
  
"Well, I think you're more of a grey sheep myself. And if you want to change the way people think, you're not going to do it standing behind me. Now go finish packing and I'll meet you in the courtyard in an hour."  
  
One hour later they stood by one of the courtyard arches. Lucy was quieting her breathing as Diego shifted uncomfortably behind her.  
  
"You DO remember where it is, right?"  
  
She gave him an annoyed glance, "Of course."  
  
"It's just that, well, how long has it been since you were there?"  
  
"About four years, now quiet please, I'm trying to concentrate."  
  
In truth it had been about four and a half. Lucy was one of the most well traveled students of her age in the Circle, owning mostly to her mentor's firm belief that it was cooperation and exchange of idea between the schools that would strengthen their future. But even after all that, this was not a familiar destination in any sense of the word.  
  
High council did not meet often. When a high council was called, every school, every single one, had to send an ambassador. Now, there were still fewer ambassadors than there were schools because in some regions, like the forests of Brazil or the Himalayas, there were countless tiny schools, some integrated into non-magical communities under various pretenses, that could not spare anyone capable of acting as ambassador because they were so small. There groups usually formed small confederations and appointed a pair to act as representatives of the needs and opinions of the entire area. These ambassadors came armed with full reports, censuses, and important work accomplished in each school and were more than qualified to speak for them. But the rigmarole required to gather all the representatives was such that most decisions could be made in a more economical manner through the Guilds or area councils.  
  
What that all meant was that it was going to take Lucy a little while to 'find' where she was going. And it was made harder by the fact that this was not her favorite place in the world.  
  
In order to make all representatives feel on an even footing with each other, high council was never held at an occupied school. That meant ruins, and this year, council was meeting at Teotihuacan, a huge, elaborate Mesoamerican city. Lucy thought it was a dump.  
  
She ground her teeth together and tried to focus, searching for a memory, a SAFE memory. The last time she had visited she had wandered into the Feathered Serpent Pyramid and fallen into one of the unearthed, mass graves, of which there were several, where hundreds of people had been sacrificed prior to the pyramids construction. She hated this city and would infinitely have preferred Chichen Itza.  
  
Finally, she remembered that she had found, much to her delight, a workroom, with protections still in place, somewhere in the Moon Pyramid. That memory was enough for her to sense the gate terminus at Teotihuacan, and rapidly vines of light began to twist and bend into an arch, and in the black space before them they were suddenly met with the image of a large stone room, with a brazier burning in the middle.  
  
"That's the Sun Pyramid all right," Diego commented dryly, "and I hope that's incense, you complained about the smell for a week when you got back."  
  
Lucy rolled her eyes and gave him a shove to get going. Diego turned and carefully reset the school's protections before taking her hand and stepping through, pulling Lucy in after.  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&  
  
"Name and school, please?" The droll registrar, who sounded like he came from the Ayers school, didn't really look up when Lucy and Diego approached his table, just outside the door to the gate room.  
  
"Diego Alvarez and Lucy Montero, Espiritu." That got the young fop to look up, if only for a moment. He glanced down at his sheet.  
  
"You need to report to Sofia as soon as possible. She'll be in the Moon Pyramid right about now. Use the subterranean tunnel down that way, too many tourists out to take the surface roads until they close it down. But with New Year and all, parks are closed for about ten days, so you won't have to use it that often."  
  
Lucy had a feeling that last comment was for their benefit, since the idea of spending any manner of time underground had Diego looking green. He had gotten lost in both the Paris and Roman catacombs on any number of occasions, and one time he had been gone for almost a day complete. She gave him a reassuring squeeze and set off for the entrance to the tunnel.  
  
After what seemed like an eternity in the thin, dark, smelly passage, they took the stairs up into the Moon Pyramid, which was at the far North end of the Avenue of the Dead, the city's main thoroughfare. After that it was only a matter of asking one of the many acolytes who were about lighting braziers and sweeping out cobwebs which way they needed to head to find Sofia, one of the most respected of the Macho Pichu elders.  
  
Thankfully, she was on one of the lower levels, in a small workroom she was using as her own during the council. The place had been scrubbed and scoured, there were no bugs, no cobwebs, a small vase of flowers on the floor, several cushions, a rug and a mountain of blankets.  
  
Lucy knocked on the doorframe.  
  
Sofia turned and greeted them with a dazzling smile. She didn't look her age, whatever that was.  
  
"So there you are. I was wondering when you would arrive."  
  
She walked to the door and hugged them both, then stepped back to give them a calculating look.  
  
"Yes, yes I think you will do just fine."  
  
"What was that?" Diego cocked his head.  
  
"Nothing, nothing. Pay no attention to an old and feeble woman. Now, have you seen anyone since you got in.?"  
  
"Just the registrar, and a couple of acolytes from."  
  
"Morocco, remember, they had cowls and looked like alter boys?"  
  
Sofia chuckled, "Yes, but they are very good at restoration. I believe the desert schools use them frequently when they decided to settle in another set of ruins. You don't even have to instruct them, they know exactly what is to be done. No one else?"  
  
"No," Lucy said slowly, "We didn't see anyone.why wasn't anyone else around?"  
  
"Oh, probably because they are all in the council session."  
  
"What? It's started? But you-"  
  
"You're not late dears. Well, you are, and you will apologize, but you are here exactly when I told and wanted you to be. Now, Diego that piece of stone is meant to serve as a door, if you could put it in place and if you will both sit down, I'll try and be brief and clear."  
  
They settled themselves among the cushions and rugs and waited until Diego had taken a seat.  
  
"We haven't informed everyone that you two are coming, that's the first thing."  
  
"But it's high council, won't they expect-"  
  
"Despite your unending optimism dear, there are several schools who don't consider Espiritu to be a viable arm of the Circle. No doubt they never expected you to begin with."  
  
"Why is this important?"  
  
Sofia sighed. "We had long suspected that there might be, in our midst, certain unfaithful members of the Circle. It is highly unlikely that without inside information these people from England that you speak of could ever have accomplished what they did, even with the help of sacred texts."  
  
"Do you know who it is?"  
  
"We believe we have identified the principle informant, but there may be others. And it is because we are unsure that we haven't put your names on the role yet. We didn't want to risk an informant telling someone dangerous that you were here."  
  
Lucy shook her head. "Why should it matter?"  
  
"That is the heart of the matter. It goes back to last year, when a manifest was done of what was missing from the deserted schools. There was an area of the Espiritu cellar that had been totally cleared, do you remember?"  
  
They nodded.  
  
"That was where the belongings that Don Asriel had left behind were being stored. They contained certain journals, notebooks, some that he had sent back secretly to friends at the school, some which were very old, from his student days. All of them gone."  
  
Diego shook his head. "I still don't see where this is going."  
  
"When we compiled a list of all the books taken, the rare volumes from Joshua Tree, the Old World Library at Chadwicks, and the missing property of Don Asriel, the list included some of the most powerful discoveries and breakthroughs in Western Magic dating back to before the founding of this very city. Most of them were never used. And for good reason. Perhaps we should never have let them exist any longer in the first place. But when you are as diminished as we are, like the ruins of this city, you cling to what you have, even if it reeks of filth. But now these are in the hands of people who have not received a call; who are not bound to any school; and who are capable of the most terrible destruction imaginable. There is only one thing stopping them."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Their own ignorance. Lucy, do you remember the frustration you wrote home about last fall? Your inability to understand what was being asked of you? How it all worked?"  
  
"Sure, it was driving me crazy."  
  
Diego's eyes lit up. "You mean, no matter what they have, they don't understand it? And they won't be able to learn, at least never enough to use that kind of power?"  
  
"I believe that whatever traitors among us helped them, they were not of the experience or creativity to understand what they had found, especially Asriel's work. He was always notoriously sloppy," she gave Lucy a knowing look.  
  
"So what's the matter, it seems all's well that ends well."  
  
"This won't stop them, I'm afraid. They know that there is someone, someone from our Circle that is studying their kind of magic. Someone who can teach them."  
  
"You mean Lucy."  
  
"Listen, Sofia, I told you about the BA, but they're just as scared as I was. And I'm just teaching them to control what they have, no amount of teaching can open up the ungifted!"  
  
"But they wouldn't need to, that's the problem. Some of the works they have would enable the ungifted to access the natural energy we use, not the kind the Hogwarts uses; I believe you comprehend the idea, Lucy, I read the abstract you submitted last month."  
  
Lucy nodded, "So they want a pidgin class of magic, so they can use their own skills to access our energy to work whatever they found in those books?"  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"Well, I'm not going to tell them. I mean, its not as if my stubborn nature isn't fully well known already."  
  
"It doesn't matter Lucy. Whomever they have is quite capable of stripping what he needs straight out of your mind if need be and using you like the Rosetta Stone."  
  
Lucy shivered, and Sofia took her hand. "But that is by no means their first choice, and you're right, they would get a much better understanding if they could force you to cooperate."  
  
Diego cracked his knuckles and began to pace. "So these people are looking for Lucy-"  
  
"For you both."  
  
"Us both?"  
  
Sofia nodded. "You two are the last link to Espiritu, and what they want is an Espiritu. We are going to assume that whatever they want, they can get from either of you. After all, in theory, you received the same education that Asriel had, so they should be able to use you to understand what they found in Asriel's books. Also, it would be very easy to use you two against each other."  
  
Lucy looked up, "You mean like holding one of us to get the other to cooperate."  
  
Sofia nodded, "So we are considering you both as targets and acting accordingly."  
  
"What about students from the other schools?"  
  
Sofia shook her head. "They were after the books at Chadwicks, that much we are certain. Besides, the age of most of the survivors makes them highly unlikely targets for someone looking for a tutor. And most of the older girls are medicinals anyway."  
  
"So, we just have to be careful?"  
  
Sofia sighed, "Very careful. And, well, I think it would be best if we let you both get in to the council. We'll discuss some of the other ideas later. Just, whatever happens, remember that we are your guardians and are trying to do what is best for you."  
  
Lucy and Diego exchanged a look. Both got the distinct impression that they weren't going to be happy with the "other ideas," but they could discuss that later, in private. As it was they followed Sofia out of the room and through the maze of corridors and tunnels that led to the main council chamber in the heart of the Sun Pyramid. There had been a recess and the ambassadors were just getting ready to go back to session when Sofia steered to two neophytes through the doors.  
  
The four sides of the room mirrored the angle and tilt of the sloped of the pyramid, so the ceiling towered high above the main floor. The ambassadors sat in tiered rows of benches, divided into boxed partitions by lower walls, made of wood and much more recently than the stone benches. The tiers formed an almost perfect circle, there was a break on one side where the entry way was, and in the center, facing away from this door, was a tall podium, with a high backed bench behind it. Like most everything, it was also stone, cold, uncomfortable, and austere. Lucy once again was reminded of how much she hated this place.  
  
Sofia guided them to the Espiritu box, a partition on the fourth row in the center, between the ambassadors from the Valley of the Kings and the Cairo school, whom Diego greeted enthusiastically. The Chadwicks representatives were several rows up and several boxes over, but Lucy recognized Ann from her masters trials last year and waved. The Joshua Tree box was empty.  
  
It wasn't long before everyone was resettled. There were five people sitting on the high bench behind the speaking podium. They were the ambassadors for the major Guilds: Masters, Adepts, Maintainers, Medicinals, and Minors. Sofia was the ambassador for the Minors Guild, which managed all basic and intermediate students, and all pre-Medicinal candidates that hadn't become certified yet. Basically it meant she was in charge of children, and since the children who were called to schools usually came from very different backgrounds, it was a good thing the woman had unending patience.  
  
It was Sofia who spoke first, serenely stepping up to the podium and levitating herself off the floor enough to be seen.  
  
"Before we begin with the reports I would like to welcome the ambassadors from the Espiritu Institute, who were detained at the last minute and have only just been able to join us now." There where many nods and smiles and more than one open stare as Lucy and Diego uncomfortably looked about; Diego waved, Lucy poked him in the ribs.  
  
"And now, would the Guild of Maintainers like to begin their presentation?"  
  
A man sitting behind Sofia rose and positioned himself behind the podium. "As the Guild representative it is my solemn and sober duty to deliver the final reports, recently filed, regarding the attacks of last fall and winter."  
  
A murmur rippled through the chamber, but as the burly man softly cleared his throat, the room fell back into silence.  
  
"My name is Victor. I have been a member of the Maintainers Guild for the past thirty years. And never has my job been as difficult as in the past sixteen months. Most of the attacks were well documented, and the results of the site examination and cleansing were reported directly back to every school and community in the Circle. However, there have been some more recent developments concerning three of the incidents." At this moment Victor paused and bent down, pulling a shard of orange stone out of a sack at his feet.  
  
"This is a shard of what was once a sphere of tiger eye. The remnants of that sphere were found in the Centering Room of the Joshua Tree school on the west coast of the United States. After a close inspection, we have come to the disturbing conclusion that this was their locus stone."  
  
The room erupted into shouts and gasps. Lucy looked at Diego, who nodded. This wasn't breaking news for them, the Maintainers had explained it when they came out in August to check the status of the Espiritu locus stone.  
  
Every school in the Circle was connected to every other school on a very basic level through the Web, an energy network that tied every school together. The Web was what gave very small schools enough energy to form lasting protections, it kept nomadic schools like the Sahara on course and guarded, and it immediately let every other school, and every member of that school, know when something was terribly wrong. When Lucy had been struck down with headaches the previous fall and winter, it had been because Espiritu had been connected through the Web, and she was connected to Espiritu. The locus stone was what focused the energy, concentrated it, and every member of the school became acclimated to the stone as one of the very first parts of their training; afterwards it would always recognize that person as a member of the school. Lucy didn't remember acclimation, she had been an infant at the time.  
  
The destruction of a locus stone was an unheard of event in the Circle. The stones were magically crafted to whatever shape was convenient, and were virtually indestructible. The loss of the stone meant the school was separated from the web, a very dangerous state.  
  
But Victor was talking again.  
  
"... stones at Espiritu and the Chadwick's school were found in a similar state. It is our belief that they were destroyed just before the principle attack. It explains why we never felt those attacks."  
  
"How could they have been destroyed? It's never been done?"  
  
"It has never been done by any of US, that is not to say that members of the Eastern Circle could not have accomplished it, and they are the ones suspected of being responsible."  
  
"But they couldn't possible-"  
  
Sofia stood up and whispered in Victor's ear. He raised his eyebrows, then turned and looked directly at Lucy.  
  
Lucy turned to Diego, "What's going on?"  
  
He shook his head, "I don't know, just, think before you say anything."  
  
But Victor was talking again.  
  
"Would the representative from Espiritu please come here?"  
  
Diego looked at Lucy, who shook her head emphatically. Diego sighed and stood up.  
  
Victor looked a bit uncomfortable. "The, er, OTHER representative please."  
  
Lucy sighed and made her way to the podium.  
  
"Is this really necessary?"  
  
Sofia nodded, "Do you have your wand?"  
  
"No...wait, yes, yes I do." That was odd, how had carrying it around become second nature?  
  
Sofia nodded. So did Victor.  
  
"What is going on?"  
  
But Victor was talking again.  
  
"We are now about to have a demonstration of the ability of Eastern magic to destroy a locus stone."  
  
Lucy's eyes grew wide, "Oh no! No no no no no! They'll think I'm the devil."  
  
But Victor was already pulling an orb out of his bag.  
  
"This was the older stone of the Kiyoto school, replaced by a better locus when they rebuilt the temple."  
  
He placed the orb on the podium.  
  
"Ms Montero, if you would please?"  
  
Lucy sighed, well, if there was one thing she was good at with this wand, it was blowing things up.  
  
She raised her arm, flicked her wrist, muttered as quietly as possible, and watched as the ball cracked from the inside, beams of light spilling out, and shattered.  
  
The room was silent. Lucy felt miserable.  
  
"Can I go back to my seat now?"  
  
Sofia nodded, and Lucy slunk back down next to Diego, trying to ignore the stares and gapes.  
  
She folded her arms over her chest. "High council bites."  
  
She didn't pay much attention as Victor went on to illuminate the play by play that the Maintainers had decided, using a great deal of the evidence Lucy sent to the Masters Guild last year, the sequence of events that had occurred at each location. The Maintainers had already been railroaded into spilling it all to Diego and Lucy that summer when they showed up.  
  
The floor was now open to discussion, mostly centered on how much did they think the strangers knew. Someone had to have told them what a locus stone was, for starters. Most of the arguing was highly inefficient, and Lucy found herself dozing.  
  
She woke up when Diego's elbow connected with her ribs.  
  
** Sofia just asked you if you had any idea how the Ministry responded last year.**  
  
"They didn't."  
  
The person who asked the question, apparantly from Sri Lanka, looked taken aback.  
  
"What?"  
  
"There was no response to any of it, most of them don't know we exist."  
  
"What about the man who knew about them in advance Lucy?"  
  
"What was his name?"  
  
"Who does he work for?"  
  
"They just let him keep on doing what he was doing?"  
  
Lucy silently wished for the ground to open up and swallow her.  
  
Victor stepped up again, "Lucy, perhaps you could tell us what happened last year, after you woke up."  
  
Lucy nodded and stood in her box.  
  
"Well, I was out for several days, and when I woke up Faustas was missing..."  
  
By the time she had given as clear a report as she could on the few weeks following the attack, there was a keen interest in the events at Hogwarts school among almost all of the representatives.  
  
Lucy, however, wanted nothing more than to sit down. And she tried to. Several times. But it always seemed that when she had answered the last question another would pop up. They were particularly interested in Snape and Dumbledore, and of course, the history and activities of Lord Voldemort.  
  
It was finally Sofia who stopped it. She approached the podium and called for a recess. Lucy sank onto her bench in relief and then let Diego lead her out into passage to find something to drink.  
  
Ann hurried over and Lucy greeted the fair haired woman who had been her examiner last year with a grateful look and a big hug.  
  
"How are you doing?"  
  
"I'll be fine if someone would just let me melt into the background and not speak again, ever."  
  
Ann laughed and shook her head. "I think you did very well. It's just that, well, in light of-"  
  
Ann suddenly stopped herself and shook her head. "I shouldn't have said that. It's nothing for you to be worried about. Lets just say that the ambassadors have a newfound reason to renew their interest in the Eastern sect."  
  
Diego threw his hands up in exasperation at the same time as Lucy.  
  
"But that doesn't explain anything at all!"  
  
Ann grimaced, "I know. But my hands are tied, really they are. Anyway, I just wanted to see how you were."  
  
Lucy shrugged, "Thanks. We're fine. I saw Aislan and Marie, by the way. Well, Aislan at least."  
  
Ann rolled her eyes. "Lord, those two, I thought I told you to stay away from them! A bigger pair of lazy lumps I never saw. At some point they are going to have to learn that brilliance is no excuse for being lazy. They'll never get the fellowships they want if they don't start applying themselves. But listen to me, I'm sorry, how were the little hellions?"  
  
"Up to their ears in work, as a matter of fact. I ran into them when I was working in the Congo last week. Aislan looked like she hadn't slept in days, and I didn't get to see Marie because she was going on her sixth straight hour of surgery, at least, she was looking on and assisting. I think they are learning the value of hard work."  
  
Ann grinned, "Glad to hear it, I'll have to remember to send them out to the next epidemic, wonderful teaching tools they are."  
  
She then excused herself and went over to visit with other people from the Istanbul school. Ann was actually from the Istanbul Conservatory, having lived and worked there since before she attained Master status. However, she was representing Chadwicks for two reasons. The first being that she had been a student there up until just before she took her Masters trials, since Chadwicks taught in forms and then its graduates left to be mentored by faculty from other institutions. The other reason was that there were hardly any faculty left from Chadwicks left to serve as ambassadors, most of the school was still missing, like Lucy's family.  
  
Sofia drifted over just as Lucy and Diego found some water. She gave Lucy a pat on the shoulder.  
  
"That went well, I think."  
  
Lucy glared, "Just tell me that I've satisfied their curiosity for everything." Her eyes begged an affirmative.  
  
Sofia sighed, "Well, not exactly, but I think we've found a better solution than grilling you for a further two hours."  
  
"Two and a half," Diego looked at his watch and back to Sofia with a slight expression of disapproval.  
  
"So it is," if the older woman noticed it, which she undoubtedly did, she chose to ignore Diego's mood. "Don't worry, you won't have to be on the spot like that again. I think we've heard all we need to. The Guild Chairs would like to meet with you Lucy, during the dinner recess, if you don't mind."  
  
Lucy looked at Diego, who shrugged.  
  
"All right."  
  
Sofia smiled, "Good. Very good, you're both doing splendidly, really."  
  
At that moment a bell rang, and the delegates began to filter back into the room.  
  
"Here we go again," Diego muttered, tossing his cup away and following Lucy back into the chamber.  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&  
  
Several hours later Lucy found herself closeted away with Sofia and the rest of the Guild Chairs, in a small anteroom off of the main chamber. Everyone else had been released to the Moon Pyramid for dinner. Lucy's meal sat on her lap.  
  
Although food was the last thing on her mind.  
  
"Are you serious?"  
  
The group assembled around her nodded.  
  
"I'm not sure I understand, I mean, no one listens to me. No one even really TALKS to me about any of this, how on earth could they be using me?"  
  
"You can never really be sure of anything, Lucy. But if there is a chance that information about us is being used against us, then we have to respond. And since you are our only link at this point, you're really the only option."  
  
"But how-"  
  
"Your potions professor, Lucy. You said you didn't trust him, correct."  
  
"No one trusts Snape except for the Slytherins."  
  
"He is still working for the same man who attacked the schools, correct? He is still in the service of Voldemort?"  
  
"Yes, he claims it is only as a way to spy for Dumbledore, but, nevertheless, he is still in that circle."  
  
"Well then he must be providing them some service. Don't you think it is plausible that one of his tasks might be to ferret out information from you?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"We've already established that we think you or Diego are the last piece of the puzzle they need. Now, if this professor is still working for Dumbledore he is not going to be able to just hand you over to these Death Eater characters, that wouldn't work. But he can probably appease them and wet there appetite by providing information on the rest of your world. You have already said that he doesn't seem to care for the consequences outside his circle, correct?"  
  
Lucy nodded. "So you think Snape is spying on me?"  
  
"Not as such. But he is trying to get as much information to pass on as possible. That is one part of the theory."  
  
"And you really think lying is going to help?"  
  
Sofia nodded emphatically. "Absolutely. Lucy, these people have a limited understanding of us, and the more we can do to confound and confuse them the less progress they make. The more they look for us in places we are not, the better off we are."  
  
"What exactly do you want me to say?"  
  
Abraham, another familiar face from last years masters trials, and representing the Guild of Adepts fixed Lucy with his eyes.  
  
"You need to lie Lucy. Lie as frequently and with as much creativity as possible. To everyone."  
  
Lucy's eyes flashed, "I can't lie to everyone."  
  
Abraham sighed, "Well, to everyone whom you wouldn't trust with the lives of your family, how about that?"  
  
Lucy nodded, "That I can do."  
  
"And most especially to your headmaster and professors."  
  
Lucy sighed, "They aren't all bad..."  
  
"But they aren't on your side Lucy, they have other people's welfare on their minds, and also their own. The problems of people thousands of miles away are not their principle focus. So we need to make sure that the destruction of all that we love and work for does not become just a part of the collateral damage of their own crusade. Do you understand?"  
  
She nodded. She would feel strange lying to Dumbledore, but she had to do it. He and McGonagall and the rest would never understand.  
  
Abraham rose, as did everyone else. Lucy stood beside him.  
  
"We'll be sending you updates and information using a few less conspicuous methods. They'll be encrypted, and in Quechua even after that, but the Masters Guild is handling that for us, so your ring ought to be able to work that out."  
  
At the sound of the bell the tall man smiled, "Well, it looks like we are just in time. Back to the firing squad, hmmm?"  
  
Lucy couldn't manage the laughter that echoed as the others left the room, and sighed, picked up her uneaten sandwich and trudged back in for another four hour long session.  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&  
  
** I thought we were never going to get out of there.**  
  
** I'm beginning to understand why they hardly ever have these- ew, gross!**  
  
** What?**  
  
** The bugs here are big.**  
  
Lucy heard Diego's mental chuckle as she wiped the bug off her shoe. **Is that all?**  
  
** You don't understand, this thing was like, the Incredible Hulk of the insect world.**  
  
** Right**  
  
** I think its carnivorous.**  
  
** Uh huh, sure.**  
  
** Mice, would be no problem.**  
  
* *Good night, Lucy.**  
  
** Are there bugs in your room?**  
  
** Oh no, not a chance Montero, go to sleep.**  
  
** But it's creepy in here, its like a cell.**  
  
** It was probably very spacious in Mesoamerican times, now shut up and go to bed you ungrateful jaded girl.**  
  
**If I wake up screaming in the night just know that it's because I've found my leg chewed off by one of the Incredible Hulk's three thousand or so brothers and sisters.**  
  
** I'll keep that in mind.**  
  
She felt Diego's conscious mind fade, replaced by a dull, sleepy Diego she was used to. She sighed and snuffed out her light, tossing a bit on the uncomfortable pallet before finally slipping off.  
  
Only to be jolted awake by a scream echoing in her mind.  
  
**LUCY!**  
  
It was Diego, that was all she had time to register before a hand covered in a vile smelling cloth clamped over her mouth and nose. Lucy struggled, managing to pick up her water glass and throw it against the door before her eyes fogged, and despite the fierce struggle of her mind, she began to go under.  
  
She couldn't do that. She didn't know who this was, but she couldn't give them the chance to take any information out of her head. They weren't shielding their thoughts at all, and it was clear that was their aim. That left her with a rather nasty option, but she seized it.  
  
As the world went black, she grabbed hold of everything she recognized as herself and with her mind pulled UP and OUT.  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&  
  
It had worked. But she had no idea what she was going to do now.  
  
She floated in a world of black, just black. She had no bearings, no recognition of anything, so her mind simply told her black.  
  
The gamble had worked and Lucy had managed to pull herself out of, well, herself, in a manner of speaking. It was an option she and Diego had both been taught of more in a historical than a practical sense. Her body would continue to function as always, she just wouldn't wake up. The light was on but there was no one home. Lucy's spirit was unattached, and at the moment not at all sure when and how she would find herself again. But at least this way there would be no mind for whomever her assailant was to plunder. The brain would make her heart pump and her organs work, but it would be completely blank- soul-less.  
  
She had known it would feel cold, and empty, but she hadn't realized how lonely.  
  
Just as she was about to dispair, she felt a presence, very near.  
  
And almost cried, if she could have, to recognize that presence as Diego.  
  
** You got out.** She could feel the relief rolling off him in waves.  
  
** The same thing happened to you?**  
  
**Yeah, I sense you were still asleep, so I tried to wake you before they got in. I guess it didn't work.**  
  
** You woke me in time to figure out what was happening at least. Who were they?**  
  
** I don't know. I don't know how they got in or where they came from, and right now we have bigger concerns.**  
  
** Like how to get back.**  
  
**Or when. We don't know who has our bodies, Luce. We could wake up in that Azkaban place or something. Not really what I had in mind for New Years.**  
  
** So how do we find our way back?**  
  
** We hope we fall into the hands of people who know us and that someone can reach us, what else can we do.**  
  
**That sounds boring.**  
  
** Well, at least time doesn't seem to matter much here. It could have been a whole day by now, who knows?**  
  
** At least we're not alone.**  
  
Then there was nothing left to do but wait.  
  
** Do you think we're dead?**  
  
**What?**  
  
** What if they killed us? We could be dead and not know it.**  
  
** I think we would, Luce, try to relax.**  
  
** Relax? I'm disembodied and you want me to relax?**  
  
More waiting.  
  
And some more.  
  
When Lucy really thought she couldn't take it any more...  
  
** What's that?**  
  
Lucy sensed nothing.  
  
** What do you mean 'what's that', there's nothing here. Literally, nothing.**  
  
**No, the light, the sound, the smell, don't you feel it Lucy?**  
  
** Um, no.**  
  
** Oh come on, I can here, I don't know, something, music, I think, and there's light, and heat and...*  
  
** OK, I think somebody's been in the timeless void a little too long...**  
  
** You honestly don't see anything, do you?**  
  
** No, I don't.**  
  
** And you don't hear anything? Smell anything, feel anything?**  
  
** Nothing, where is it?**  
  
** It's right here!**  
  
** Diego, there's nothing here.**  
  
** It's a way out Lucy, it has to be. Someone is coming and trying to find us!**  
  
** No. Someone is coming and trying to find YOU.**  
  
** What?**  
  
** I can't feel anything, Diego. So whoever this is must be trying to reach you.**  
  
** I....**  
  
** Can you get out?**  
  
** What?**  
  
** Is this, whatever it is, is it showing you the way out?**  
  
** I think so.**  
  
** Then go you big idiot!**  
  
** Absolutely not. I'm not leaving you here.**  
  
** Here? We don't even know where here is! Just go, wake up!**  
  
** Lucy...**  
  
** Wake up and then you can come and figure out how to wake me up, but hurry before whomever this is decides to give up!**  
  
** What if-**  
  
** Don't think about it, ok, we have a limited number of options here. So get moving.**  
  
** I'll find you, I promise.**  
  
** I know you will, now go!**  
  
She couldn't see the door, or portal, or however it is he left, but she felt him slipping farther and farther away into the abyss.  
  
Now she was really alone.  
  
She hovered there for what seemed like days, but could have been hours, minutes, seconds or years. She vowed if she got back to herself she would never, ever be without a watch.  
  
That was when she felt the tingle.  
  
It was like the sensation that came when feeling flowed back into your extremeties, when your frostbitten fingers regained some warmth.  
  
And there seemed to be a light patch of grey in the blackness.  
  
It was as if she had seen it before, although she instinctively knew she never had. It flickered and danced, foggy and shadowed, but there just the same, a faint beacon, and the only point of reference in the abyss.  
  
Of course, it was not necessarily friendly. But at this point, she didn't care if Lord Voldemort himself were trying to rouse her, she wanted out. Besides, she sensed that she knew whomever this was. It was not Diego, that was once presence she definitely didn't feel.  
  
She focused on it, as if just thinking about it and recognizing it could pull her toward it, and maybe that was how it worked, because things began to change.  
  
She felt warmer, more solid, more familiar, and she was coming closer and closer to the grey that had become whiter.  
  
As soon as she was close enough, she reached out with whatever she was starting to recognize again as her conscious self, and connected.  
  
She opened her eyes and found herself home. In her own body. In her own bed. In her own room. In her own school.  
  
At the foot of the bed pallet, perched delicately on the back of a chair, was a large red shouldered hawk, which was, if hawks could do such a thing, looking immensely proud of himself.  
  
** Honestly chica, I go away for five minutes and look what you get yourself into.** 


	13. Chapter Thirteen: The Boys Are Back in T...

Chapter Thirteen: The Boys Are Back in Town  
  
She tried to sit up immediately, but found herself unable to do so.  
  
** Not so fast cricket, being deprived of its soul tends to weaken the body, you're going to need quite a bit of rest before you're back to yourself.**  
  
"Faustas? It's you, isn't it? It was you who pulled me back, you're really here?"  
  
** Very much so.**  
  
"But- Diego! Where's Diego, is he all right?"  
  
** Yes, yes, of course he is. He's in Egypt and doing splendidly, or so he was when last I checked.**  
  
"Did you wake him up too?"  
  
** Of course not, I was here with you. Let me see if I can make this clear. According to Sofia and Abraham, who were the first to arrive in your rooms and apprehend the attackers, they decided that if this was any indication of the situation, you and Diego were much more of a target together than apart. So they had one of the Cairo ambassadors take Diego back to Egypt, and Anna brought you here.**  
  
"Then who woke Diego?"  
  
** Well, now, and that was the question I was about to ask you. Apparently as Diego was being settled in at the Cairo school, one of the librarians returned from a trip to Greece with his daughter. The situation is explained to them, the others had been getting nowhere trying to wake Diego, and then the girl, quick as you please, is up the stairs and inside his head and after about two hours, the boy is wide awake. So what HAS been going on around here since I left?**  
  
Lucy giggled, "Diego's got a girlfriend. He won't let me see her though."  
  
** Wise decision.**  
  
Lucy stuck out her tongue.  
  
** You are one ungrateful girl, you know that, don't you?**  
  
"Well, I learned from the best. And now, a little explanation, if you please."  
  
** I just told you-**  
  
"No. I would like to know what you are doing here. We thought you were, um, well...we thought-"  
  
** Ah, I see. Well, to answer your first question, I am here because you needed me. As a tierra guardian my first job is to protect this land. But what many people don't understand is that the people who live on the land are as much a part of it as anything else. So in protecting the land it is often necessary to protect the people. And when you were brought here, obviously in need of help, and a member of this school, I responded.**  
  
"Where were you before? Do you..."  
  
** No Lucy, no. I'm sorry, but I haven't been with the... rest. When the school was attacked I was pulled home very quickly. I was literally pulled out of my physical form and back to the insubstantial but in general much more efficient true avatar form. There was much work to be done. We had to protect the energy lines, in case the intruders tried to tap them. And when it became clear that we were not going to be able to hold them off, cut off from the web as we were, we had to cushion the passage of the remnant into the void, we helped stabilize the gate so that so many could pass through. And then, when it was all over, the stain left on the land was so serious and devastating that no one was spared to trot back out into the physical world and look for you or Diego.**  
  
"No one could be spared? But, you couldn't have-"  
  
** You didn't need me, chica. You thought you did, but you didn't. You had adjusted just fine, you had a few friends, you weren't crying yourself to sleep at night anymore. Look at yourself, you've done wonderfully on your own.**  
  
Lucy pouted a little, "Just because I was surviving doesn't mean I was happy all alone."  
  
Faustas' eyes saddened. ** I know, believe me morenita, when I had to try and find you I picked up a lot, and I'm sorry that you were left like that. But there was nothing to be done. The land needed me and I had to stay.**  
  
Lucy nodded and sighed. "So, you're going to go back now?"  
  
** Are you so eager to get rid of me?**  
  
"But- I thought-"  
  
** Times have changed Lucy. You and your blood brother are now apparently two of the many targets of a sadistic madman who plans to use you to exploit natural energy sources in an attempt to aid in his plan of global domination. I think you could use my help.**  
  
"So you're staying?"  
  
** At least until the wind changes. Now go to sleep. You're leaving in the morning.**  
  
"Leaving? Where to?"  
  
** Back to school, of course. If these weirdos really are looking for you, this would be a pretty obvious place to look. And you are in no condition to help yourself. At least back at the mausoleum you're under the eye of Dumbledore. Although he seems to think sacrificing entire communities in far off countries is acceptable, I doubt he'd condone the abduction of a student from his own castle. Now go to bed.**  
  
It wasn't hard to fall asleep. Lucy felt as if her head had barely reached the pillow before she was being woken up again. Ann was smiling at her and pushing a tray of oatmeal towards her.  
  
"And don't event think of wrinkling your nose either. This was all that I could find that was edible, what HAVE you been eating all this time?"  
  
"Pizza," Lucy said between grimaces and mouthfuls of oatmeal, which she had lost her taste for ever since she had gotten poison sumac one summer and been forced to take a bath in it. The oatmeal, that is, not the poison sumac.  
  
Ann muttered a sound of disgust and helped Lucy sit up a little better before going about the room and, per Lucy's instructions, packing her trunk.  
  
"So, what about council Ann?"  
  
"Um..." her voice was muffled as she bent in a corner to retrieve a pair of blue jeans. "They'll be sending you both the minutes from everything you miss. You can absentee vote if anything big comes up, and if it is extremely important they'll get a hold of you somehow."  
  
"Right. Does Dumbledore know about any of this?"  
  
Ann looked puzzled for a moment. "Oh, the headmaster. No, of course not. The less those people know about you the better for all of us. You were never at high council, you were never at Espiritu, you spent your entire vacation at the Seville school-"  
  
"With me." Lucy turned toward the door to see a tall, dark haired, blue eyed young man in his twenties with a distinctive Cajun accent leaning against the frame.  
  
"What are you doing here Thomas?"  
  
"Taking you home. Ann needs to get back to council, so I'm gonna gate you to Seville and then back to Hogwarts. We're going to have to use some rather devious methods if we're going to slip you in early."  
  
Lucy raised her eyebrows, but Thomas didn't clarify, just went to work packing the rest of the clothes laid out by her trunk.  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&  
  
"So what is this all about?"  
  
Lucy was sitting in the courtyard at Seville, waiting for Thomas to replenish his energy and get her back to Hogwarts. He was also putting on a very heavy cloak and wrapping a blanket around her shoulders.  
  
"Well the point, cricket, is to slip you in without anyone being the wiser. Now, all the girls went home for the holidays from your room, right?"  
  
Lucy sipped her tea and nodded.  
  
"Then all we have to do is get you into bed without anyone noticing. You stay there, and just act like you beat everyone back to the room when they start to arrive at the end of the break."  
  
"Thomas, I'll starve, and I can't hold my bladder that long. And I'll never be able to just stay in that room the whole time, I'll go crazy."  
  
"Fine, you tell me where we can stash you. But the point is we don't want them knowing you came home early."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because if they know anything about the council, that would reinforce that you were there. And I'm pretty sure on the list of lies to tell important people they gave you denying that you were ever at council is pretty high up there."  
  
It was. Lucy didn't like it, but she was going to have to stay out of sight until classes resumed in about a week. There was only one room in the whole school that was going to be able to keep her hidden for that long.  
  
"Fine, I know a place. But it is going to be tricky getting there."  
  
Thomas waggled his eyebrows. "I have spent years honing my practice at avoiding Therese, I can get in and out of anywhere. I am the terror that flaps in the night."  
  
Lucy sighed. "Whenever you're ready Darkwing."  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&  
  
It was cold, very cold, and it was snowing. The gate had dumped them as close to the school as possible, but it was still quite a walk from the gate through Hogsmeade and up to the school. Lucy had decided that it wasn't worth breaking into Honeydukes to get to the tunnel, so the plan was to simply walk up to the school and hover/climb up to the girls bedroom window. Faustas was serving as a lookout, and giving Lucy enough energy to walk, since Thomas was floating the trunk along. But they had to stop every now and then since between the cold and the snow and her own illness, Lucy wasn't as sprightly as normal.  
  
** You two better hurry up.**  
  
Lucy looked up, trying to make out Faustas, but there was no moon tonight and she had no idea where he was.  
  
** What's the matter?**  
  
** There is a very big dog heading in this direction.**  
  
Lucy groaned and started to run, Thomas followed.  
  
** It's worse than that. That thing isn't a dog at all. He's an escaped convict and one of Dumbledore's very loyal spies. And I wasn't exactly nice to him the last time I saw him.**  
  
** We need to work on you're people skills chica.**  
  
Luckily, the snow and the wind had picked up, and seeing anything more than twenty feet away was next to impossible, unless you were looking with the Sight. That was how both Lucy and Thomas managed to climb the wall up to the girls tower bedroom window; Lucy manipulated the latch and they both tumbled in, with the trunk and Faustas following. Lucy peeked her head out the window and looked below.  
  
There was a tall dark haired man staring up into the snow. But he couldn't possibly have seen them.  
  
Lucy carefully grabbed a towel and they dried themselves off so as not to squeak or leave footprints. Lucy stuffed the towel under her pillow. They took the trunk and Lucy peeked out the door and down the stairs. It was very late, and the common room looked empty. Carefully they made their way down.  
  
Harry was asleep in the couch in front of the fire. Lucy swore, and Thomas damped the fire and sent the room into darkness. They quickly snuck across the floor and out the portrait hole, the Fat Lady was dozing and didn't notice a thing.  
  
** Hurry, and watch out for cats.**  
  
She cast a wary glance around and then headed down the hallway and stopped right before the last portrait.  
  
"Godric," she whispered, and taking Thomas's hand, pulled him and the trunk thorugh behind her.  
  
"Wow," Thomas looked around the dark stairwell. "Are you planning on living in the dungeon Lucy?"  
  
Lucy pulled him behind her as she made her way down to the door, unlocked it with the password, and entered the BA room. She ignited the fire and set the trunk down near the table.  
  
"Nice digs, so this is the classroom?"  
  
Lucy nodded. "There's a bathroom behind the bookcase and that door leads to the kitchens. I can make the floor in front of the fire cushion stone, I'll survive."  
  
Thomas nodded, "Keep the blanket then, you'll need it. So, what's the best was out of here?"  
  
Lucy took him back into the stairwell, and up through the trapdoor into the OWL prep room. She walked over to the window, opened it, and looked down.  
  
"Not too far, actually, you won't even have to climb."  
  
Thomas eyed the drop, "Right, I think I'll be the judge of that."  
  
Lucy shrugged, "Faustas is going to be your eyes until you get safely away, watch out for that dog, he's trouble."  
  
Thomas nodded and gave her a hug. "Take care of yourself old girl. I'll keep an eye out for Diego if he ever comes my way."  
  
Lucy looked puzzled, "What do you mean."  
  
Thomas cringed, "Um, nothing. Here, I was supposed to give you this. Don't read it till after I'm gone."  
  
"What-" Lucy looked down at a scroll being thrust into her hands.  
  
"I've got to go, be careful, ok Lucy? Just for god's sake be careful." He gave her a kiss on the forehead and hoisted himself over the windowsill, hovering his way safely to the ground before taking off across the snowy landscape.  
  
Lucy shut the window to avoid the biting wind, and waited by it until long after Thomas had disappeared from sight and Faustas had finally told her that the gate was safely closed. Now, if Lucy didn't like being penned up, Faustas liked it even less, and he was going to spend his time out of doors.  
  
So as soon as she got the all clear Lucy headed back down to her temporary living space and snuggled up in the blanket to read the missive Thomas hadn't wanted to be around to hear.  
  
"To Lucy Montero-  
  
An investigation of the incident at High Council has come to the conclusion that both yourself and Diego Alvarez were maliciously attacked by traitors from within our midst. You should feel safe in knowing that these two have been apprehended and are being thoroughly examined for more information. The Guild of Minors, who are responsible for Mr. Alvarez, and the Guild of Masters, in whose care you are entrusted, have decided that to maintain the highest level of safety in the absence of your legal guardians, you and Mr. Alvarez shall be kept as far away from each other as possible. There will be no contact between you, as it is suspected that enemies of this circle could discern your whereabouts from intercepted letters, or eavesdropping on mirror communications. I don't think I need to remind you how damaging it would be to every member of our circle if certain information, information inside the minds of yourself and Mr. Alvarez, reached those who seek to harm us. Therefore we expect the highest level of cooperation from Mr. Alvarez and yourself, in the hopes that we will be able to end this business as soon as possible."  
  
The letter was signed with the seals of the Guild of Minors and the Guild of Masters.  
  
If Lucy hadn't been in deepest hiding she would have screamed. She was about to toss the missive into the flames when it dissolved in her hands.  
  
"Great, just great. Isolate me, cut me off." She settled into her cushion stone bed and fingered the delicate string of multicolored beads around her wrist. Well, if they thought than cutting off letters and mirror conversations was going to cut her off from Diego, they had another thing coming.  
  
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She was fortunate that the house elves didn't seem to have a clue who was supposed to be around the castle and who wasn't, and Lucy found herself well supplied with food for the duration of her containment indoors. The lack of sunlight was rather disheartening, and she would occasionally risk a trip to the upstairs room for a glimpse out the window.  
  
The rest of her confinement was spent devising a method of keeping in contact with Diego. The circle be damned, Diego was family, and the only piece of it she had left. They weren't going to separate them any more than they already were. However, she hadn't been able to work very well since more than an hour or so of any type of exertion made her head spin and her knees wobble. Apparently Anna had been right about the need for rest. A great deal of her time was spent napping and feeling completely useless.  
  
She was no closer to a solution the night before end of break than she had been when she arrived, and went to bed a very disgruntled woman.  
  
She was half asleep when  
  
** Lucy?**  
  
She jerked upright at the sound of Diego's voice in her head.  
  
** Diego, where are you?**  
  
** In Egypt, for the moment. They want to move me elsewhere but I think Zahra's dad is doing a lot to convince them I'm going to need a few more days.**  
  
** And why would he be doing that?**  
  
** I have no idea.**  
  
Lucy smiled to herself. ** You realize you can't marry this girl until your mother comes back?**  
  
** WHAT?**  
  
** Oh don't be daft, Rosa would be furious!**  
  
** Lucy I am NOT getting married.**  
  
**Yet. Anyway, you're all right?**  
  
** Right as rain, and you?**  
  
** I'm fine, and I picked up an old friend.**  
  
**Huh?**  
  
** Faustas pulled me out.**  
  
** I wondered who it was. I tried to get to you, honestly, but they wouldn't let me out of bed.**  
  
** They're very smart. And I'm fine.**  
  
** And I take it that the bag of feathers is with you? Where ARE you, by the way?**  
  
** Back at Hogwarts, I sort of sneaked in. They don't know I'm here.**  
  
** I'm betting this doesn't make the Inquisition happy.**  
  
** I'm hoping with so many students they'll just overlook it.**  
  
** How long are you in hiding?**  
  
** I come out of the annex tomorrow. I can't wait.**  
  
** I'll bet, just be careful.**  
  
** I will, so I take it this means we're not holding to what the Guilds decided was the most reasonable way of dealing with us?**  
  
** Most unreasonable way of NOT dealing with us was more like it. Can't blame them for throwing it together, they have bigger problems than the two of us. Still, I thought it rather naive of Sofia, she knows us too well.**  
  
** Which is exactly why she went along with it. She knew we'd find some other way.**  
  
** I bet she didn't guess it would be this.**  
  
** Neither did I, how are you keeping this up?**  
  
** Part of the reason that we're trying to keep me in Egypt as long as possible. You find us our way in and I think I've got a way of slowing the energy drain until we get everyone out. But I have to translate the book.**  
  
** Sumerian?**  
  
** Aramaic. I can do Aramaic, but it'll take about a week, and then I have to get a workable spell, so you just keep on working on the gate.**  
  
** You realize we are going to have to test this at some point, and soon. I need to know what modifications to make.**  
  
** Let's think about that later, there's no way anyone is going in there until I'm satisfied that there are going to be enough reserves to pull them out.**  
  
** Agreed.**  
  
** Good. All right, I'm fading and if you weren't being stubborn you would have told me you were ages ago. I'll contact you as soon as I can get something worked out, or when they move me, whichever comes first. Try to stay out of trouble.**  
  
** You know me.**  
  
** Which is why I am worried. TRY this time Luce.**  
  
** I'll do my best. I love you.**  
  
** Te amo tambien. Buenas noches hermanita.**  
  
No sooner had Diego blinked out of her mind than Lucy was fast asleep on the stone.  
  
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She listened very carefully the next day, and when she heard the noise of troops of feet clattering through the halls she made her move. Heaving her trunk behind her she exited through the bathroom and disappeared into the throng of students moving towards the stairs. By the time she reached the bedroom Parvati and Lavender were already unpacking.  
  
"Didn't see you on the train Lucy, where were you?" Lavender delicately removed her crystal ball from its carrying case with a swatch of velvet and placed it back in its stand.  
  
"Asleep, it's the only way to travel." Lucy dumped her trunk on the end of her bed and fought with the latch until it opened.  
  
"You ended up with firsties again, didn't you?"  
  
Lucy shrugged.  
  
Parvati waved a peppermint stick at her, "That'll teach you to show up late all the time. There was plenty of room up front."  
  
Lucy shrugged again and collapsed on her bed. "Blame it on rain."  
  
"The rain?"  
  
"Mmmhmmm, the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain. It also made me sleepy and slow."  
  
She turned back to unpacking at that point and let the other girls squeal over the clothes they received for Christmas.  
  
No one else mentioned anything about Lucy's lack of appearance on the Express, and when she didn't find any Ministry officials bearing down on her as she entered the Great Hall for dinner, she figured she was more or less in the clear. She also had anyone from the house that talked to her convinced that she had spent a tranquil holiday in Seville. She didn't exactly like lying, but at times it was rather entertaining.  
  
Faustas had decided it would be best if he kept his presence very low key. But he also insist that he be close to keep an eye on her as much as possible. He managed it by simply perching high up outside one of the windows in the Great Hall, or outside her classrooms. But they had both decided it would be most convenient if they let the girls know about him so he could come inside if necessary. Lucy wasn't sure when they were going to break the news, but as she re-entered the common room that night, it seemed as if Faustas had already decided.  
  
A shriek came from the door Lavender had just entered, and Parvati and Lucy came in hard on her heels.  
  
Faustas was looking unconcerned, perhaps a bit annoyed, and was patiently grooming himself while perched in Parvati's bedpost.  
  
Lavender was clutching her chest in shock.  
  
"Lucy! You can't just bring home a pet and not tell anyone! I nearly died."  
  
Lucy grimaced, "Sorry, he was supposed to have stayed outside until I told you," with this she gave Faustas a deadly glare.  
  
** It's snowing, querida, nasty wet snow, and I don't intend to turn into a Popsicle waiting for you to cut to the chase.**  
  
Parvati looked at the bird with her hands on her hips. "Well I hope you don't think you're living in my bed."  
  
Lucy grinned, "Wrong bed, senor, I'm in that one this year," she gestured to the bed to the right of Parvati's.  
  
If red shouldered hawks could shrug, Faustas did. Lucy let him carefully climb on her arm, wincing as the sharp talons pierced through her robe and against her un-gauntleted arm. She transferred him to her bed, letting him settle himself unsteadily on the mattress while she opened her trunk and began to sort through it for the perch they had packed.  
  
It was while she was digging, for Anna had packed far too neatly and she couldn't find a damn thing, that she found a small package in the corner. She tossed it on the bed and pulled out the various wooden pieces that were supposed to assemble into a perch. With some not so gentle prompting from her new guardian, and her Swiss Army knife, she had the stand assembled and weighted down with Hermione's third year textbooks in under thirty minutes.  
  
From his new perch Faustas surveyed the room around Lucy's bed. His eye fell on the license plate.  
  
** Something I need to know about?**  
  
Lucy kissed him on his head, "I'm all in one piece, Diego is all in one piece. It was just her time." Best leave tales of last summer's joyride through New Mexico and Arizona till a later date.  
  
Parvati shook her head. "Not again."  
  
Lucy looked up, "Huh?"  
  
The Indian girl shrugged. "Nothing, it's nothing. Just that it took me several months to get used to you talking out loud for no particular reason, and now I have to do it all over again."  
  
"Sorry," Lucy said weakly, and sat crossed-legged on the end of her bed. "Um, listen, if it's not too terribly hard on you, I want to try and keep Faustas's presence here sort of... unnoticed. He'll be in the room, but he won't be in the common room, he won't follow me around. He'll probably be outside most of the time once the weather lightens up anyway. So, can you just not tell anyone else that he's here?"  
  
The girls looked at each other, and then at Lucy.  
  
Lavender shrugged and plopped down on the floor into a yoga stretch. "Sure Lucy, if that's what you want. But you didn't have any trouble with him last year, why the change?"  
  
Lucy grimaced at the way Lavender's back bent and turned back to unpacking. "Because I did get a lot of attention. McGonagall didn't like him at all. And I don't know if you've noticed, but things have started getting really weird for international students around here and I'd rather not stick out anymore than I have to."  
  
Parvati nodded. "OK, the bird will be our little secret."  
  
It was at that moment that Hermione burst through the door.  
  
"You guys will never guess what- OH MY GOD!"  
  
Lucy telekinetically slammed the door and Parvati jumped to clamp a hand over Hermione's mouth at the same time, as Lavender whimpered in pain as Parvati's leap toppled her out of a backbend to land painfully on the floor.  
  
** Like the "bloody" Russian Circus around here isn't it chiquita?** 


	14. Chapter Fourteen: Freedom Is Coming

Chapter Fourteen: Freedom Is Coming  
  
As soon as Hermione had been brought up to speed on everything things calmed down quite a bit. And it was Lucy, Lavender, and Parvati's turn to gape when she unpacked what looked like a lime green bowling ball with dark green spots. Hermione grunted a bit as she set it on the bed before turning back and setting up the box lined with pillows she had been keeping it in.  
  
"Good Lord Hermione, he's huge!"  
  
Hermione groaned, "Tell me about it. And he's still nowhere near his full size. His growth is going to continue, and accelerate until he hatches. Hagrid never told me exactly how big he would be."  
  
Lucy groaned, "Damn, I forgot all about Sparks. I better go get him from Hagrid before dinner."  
  
"You're not keeping him in here, are you?"  
  
Lucy shook her head, "No, the, er, babysitter I had last term is still available. He's not going to singe any of your clothes Lavender."  
  
Faustas raised an eyebrow, if that was possible for a red-shouldered hawk. ** And just what are you talking about?**  
  
Lucy grinned, "I am afraid I must inform you, oh ancient one, that you are no longer the only bird in my life." With that she grabbed her cloak and swept from the room while Parvati moaned about being driven crazy and the other girls returned to unpacking.  
  
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"Oh there you are, come to mommy you little devil. Did he behave himself Hagrid?"  
  
Hagrid grinned as he handed Lucy a pair of silver oven mitts with insulating charms sewn in the lining.  
  
"He was good enough. Singed Fang's tail, although I do suppose it was the big brutes fault for sitting on him. Gettin awful hot he is. I'd keep him on ice as often as possible, at least four days a week."  
  
Lucy made a face, "That many, you really think so?"  
  
Hagrid nodded, "Best ways that I knows how to do its is ta set him real gentle in a tub of water and then freeze the whole thing. Takes a bit of practice, but that will stay for about a day and a half, maybe two. Keep a sharp eye on him though, don't want 'em settin' nothin aflame now do we?"  
  
Lucy sighed, "No, but that's still an awful lot of work."  
  
Hagrid carefully placed Sparks in Lucy's mittens and patted her head. "Just wait till he hatches. That's when everyone else will have a devil of a time. But phoenix's are right independent little demons once they're out, can practically take care of themselves. Very smart. I'm sure you'll get on fine. Now, if ye don't mind, I've got a bit a business ta take care of before dinner. I'll see you in class Lucy."  
  
Lucy looked suspiciously at the large pile of huge brown paper packages, smelling distinctly like a butcher shop. But Hagrid shooed her out the door and waved her off before quickly grabbing his pipe off the front step and disappearing back into his hut.  
  
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It was on her way back to the Gryffindor common room after carefully stashing Sparks in the BA room that Lucy ran, literally, into Marguerite Ducasse.  
  
"Lucy, hi! You weren't on the train, were you?"  
  
Lucy wasn't exactly sure what to say, and she really hated lying to people who trusted her. She decided to avoid the answer all together.  
  
"You and Parker found a place to sit all right, didn't you?"  
  
"Mmmhmmm, we sat with the Belle and Brady, no one else wanted to sit with them," she added rather sadly.  
  
"Really?" Lucy didn't like the sound of it.  
  
"Uh huh, Belle's friends wanted her to sit with them, and the Slytherins wanted Brady back with them, but I think that after being able to spend the whole holiday together, they didn't want to split up yet. And none of the Gryffindors or Slytherins wanted to sit with both of them."  
  
Lucy had a feeling Hermione was going to have her hands full.  
  
"Well, practically none of the Slytherins anyway. Right before I had to go back to the immigration car with everyone else Tabitha and her cousin Lotte came by. Brady knows Lotte a little, and they were still playing cards when I got back."  
  
"Well it's good to know that not everyone is so closed minded now, isn't it?"  
  
Marguerite nodded. "I was on my way to give Parker his deck back anyway, you want to come?'  
  
Images of the wreck she had left her room rose into Lucy's mind. "I can't right now, but I'll catch up with both of you later and you can tell me all about your vacation."  
  
Lucy hadn't gone more than five steps when she heard Marguerite calling from behind her.  
  
"Did you plan it Lucy?"  
  
Lucy turned, "Plan what?"  
  
"With the others, did you plan not to be on the train?"  
  
She shook her head, "What are you talking about, what others?"  
  
Marguerite looked directly at her, an expression of concern in her blue eyes making her look eons older than she was. But then, Lucy remembered, Marguerite seldom looked or acted her age.  
  
"When we were being processed, you weren't there. And they read off the names of others who weren't on the train as well. So I just wanted to know if you planned it, because if you did than I want to know why I..."  
  
Lucy sighed. "You were right, I wasn't on the train. But I'm trying not to spread that around, ok? My roommates all think I was just in another car. And if anyone else from our little assemblage of the persecuted decided not to take the train as well, than they did it on their own. You weren't left out of any sort of organized resistance. We didn't even think of that."  
  
The blond braids bobbed as Marguerite nodded in understanding. "I just wanted to make sure."  
  
"If we ever need to do something I'm sure it will be a group effort Marguerite, when you're in the minority you need all the numbers you can get."  
  
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"Done at last," Lucy closed her trunk and shut her final drawer with a satisfying bang. "I plan on sleeping till dinner, someone get me up," and without waiting for a response, she fell backward onto her bed.  
  
And yelped in pain as her head landed on a small, hard object.  
  
"Que es esto?" She sat up and looked down at the small package she had chucked absentmindedly on the bed earlier in the afternoon.  
  
"Just when I thought I was done unpacking..." she muttered to herself as she removed the brown paper and the bubble cloth surrounding the circular flat object the size of her hand.  
  
It was a mirror. But it took Lucy less than half a second to recognize it as no ordinary mirror. The was a Mirror, a communication Mirror, and a powerful one at that. It was also so old that it could have been used by the Egyptians before the pyramids existed. Where on earth had it come from, and who's was it?  
  
She fell asleep still puzzling over that question, with the mirror clutched in her hand, and she hadn't been dozing nearly long enough when Hermione's voice reached her ears.  
  
"Come on Lucy! Supper! Let's go!"  
  
Muttering several curses in a variety of languages, Lucy carefully wrapped the mirror in bubble cloth and placed it under her pillow before following the girls down to the Great Hall.  
  
She hadn't taken a bite of her food before Seamus slid onto the bench across from her.  
  
** You weren't on the train.**  
  
** I'm fine, Seamus, how was your vacation?**  
  
** You weren't on the train.**  
  
** Could you pass the rolls please?**  
  
** You weren't on the train.**  
  
Deciding it was worth the low risk, since everyone's eyes were on their plates and their friends and because food was moving so quickly anyway, Lucy crossed her arms in front of her chest, stared right into Seamus's steely gaze, and raised a roll from the basket next to him up and over the tray of vegetables to land on her plate.  
  
She was tempted to butter it without using her hands as well but decided that would be a little conspicuous for anyone who was still spying on her, so she picked up her knife and nonchalantly buttered the bread before taking a bite.  
  
"Mmmm, delicious."  
  
Seamus was not amused. But Lucy had absolutely no intention of having this conversation, and especially not here. Her best method for lying as little as possible to her friends while also revealing as little as possible was simply not to talk about certain subjects. Faustas was one. The final days of her vacation was another. He was simply going to have to learn how to play ball.  
  
After about ten minutes of nothing but an angry stare facing her, she decided it was best to try and change the conversation.  
  
"So, did you get your Christmas present?"  
  
Nothing makes a boy brighten up than the opportunity to talk about sports.  
  
"God, I completely forgot. I loved it, thank you."  
  
"Any new designs yet?"  
  
"Nothing radical, I did find a bristle conformation that reduces drag significantly, and there's a charm..."  
  
Lucy smiled as he rattled on. Seamus was a fine Quidditch player, but his chances of making it as a beater in the professional leagues was slim, and he knew it. He was tall and wiry, and most of the pros were heavier than he was. But, fortunately, Seamus's interest in Quidditch as a career didn't center around playing the game at all. He had been, for quite some time, meddling with broom designs. It had begun out of necessity; high quality brooms were expensive and he would always end up with either an old broom or a mediocre one. His best shot at improving maneuverability and speed was to try and fix what he had. And one of the most valuable things Seamus brought to his designs was playing experience. He was a beater now, but in local leagues and summer camps he had played chaser frequently, and occasionally keeper as well. He understood the specific needs of positions, and major flaws that made an otherwise excellent broom perform below its capacity. So Lucy had gone in with Dean and Neville to get him a practically professional quality broom design kit. It had all the basic requirements for broom maintenance and repair, as well as a beautiful set of wood working tools, charming supplies, and "Principles of Flight", a guide to magical aerodynamics.  
  
Seamus must have realized that Lucy had eventually tuned out his technical ramblings, he paused to take another bite and then raised his eyebrows expectantly.  
  
"Well?"  
  
Lucy looked confused, "Well, what?"  
  
"Well, how did you like YOUR present?"  
  
Lucy shook her head, "What are talking about? I didn't get it. I was going to politely forget the fact that you forgot to give it to me and wait patiently until you apologized, but since you brought it up-"  
  
"What do you mean, you didn't get it? I put it inside your trunk myself!"  
  
Lucy paused, set down her fork, and shook her head. "Now, see, there's the problem. I am not someone accustomed to living out of a trunk, and I hardly ever really need more than I pack on the very top, so nothing gets completely unpacked till I get back..." She rubbed the lump on the back of her head. The package.  
  
"The mirror? That was from you!"  
  
Seamus grinned widely at the response. Lucy wasn't usually easily surprised, and when she was she tried not to show it. She got that from being around Hermione, so it was nice to be able to rattle her once and awhile.  
  
"I suppose I should have added a card but-" The look on Lucy's face he saw now wasn't really surprise, it was shock and confusion.  
  
"Lucy..."  
  
She shook her head, to clear it. "Seamus, this is kind of important. Where, in the name of all the little gods, did you find that mirror?"  
  
Seamus was now the one confused. "My grandmother. You remember, the one who thought I could pass for a druid until I grew too tall, it was in her attic. Apparently its been stuffed in there for several generations, but she was the one who found it when she was younger, cleaned it up a bit, put it in the cupboard next to the china. Anyway, she sent it to me as a good luck charm right before mid term exams, she likes to do that, I have several four leaf clovers and a host of other knick knacks, and I thought you might like it more than me, it seemed like your style. Why, what's that face, what's the matter?"  
  
Lucy sighed and shrugged. "You were right."  
  
She shoved her plate toward the middle of the table and watched it disappear, then rose. "Well, are you coming?"  
  
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"So it isn't just a pretty mirror?" Seamus turned the disk over in his hand, running his fingers over the design chiseled into the stone surrounding the mirror. The mirror itself was curious. He had always thought it was age, or dirt, but it was darker, not the crystal clear reflection of ordinary mirrors. But none of Lucy's communication mirrors ever looked like this.  
  
"No, definitely not. This thing is ancient, I don't know how ancient...but, well, look at that stone! That's not ordinary mirror, that is a solid sheet of stone, and the center has been.... I don't know what, changed to reflect."  
  
Lucy flopped down on the sofa, frustrated.  
  
"So, why did my grandmother have it?"  
  
"Why was it here at all? That is an artifact from the Western Circle, a tool of Western magic, and there is no western magic here!"  
  
Her descent into a more perfect mope was interrupted by a tap on her shoulder. Ron was standing behind the couch, a box in his hand.  
  
Lucy raised her eyebrow. Ron and her were no longer really enemies, but a present would be downright congenial of him.  
  
He answered the question before she posed it.  
  
"It's from Fred and George. They didn't know how to send it to you for Christmas, and they wanted you to be the first to see them. So, Merry Christmas."  
  
Lucy looked at the box, up to Ron's face, and down to the box again. Opening a package from the Weasley twins was never something to be taken lightly.  
  
"Put it on the floor Ron, please."  
  
Ron shrugged and placed the package at his feet before coming around to the other side of the couch.  
  
Lucy crouched down, peering over the back, and mentally pulled at the paper until it fell away, revealing a plain brown box. Getting that open took a little wand work, but eventually it was open, and Lucy blew the packing away to reveal a small brightly colored box with gold writing.  
  
She burst into laughter and leapt over the sofa to inspect the box and the attached card.  
  
"Lucy: Well, Harry may have given us the money, but you gave us the inspiration, so we thought it only fair that you receive the very first box of Caterwauling Confections. This batch was made especially with you in mind. Hope you aren't behaving yourself, and make good use of them. Merry Christmas! Yours in Irresponsibility, Fred and George"  
  
And indeed, the present was a box of the tricky chocolate peanut butter and caramel cups that compelled the victim to sing whatever song had been charmed into them for as long as the caramel stayed on their teeth. Lucy had given the recipe and associated charm to the twins as a graduation gift the year before. In the top right corner of the blue and white striped box was an American Flag sticker with the gold message "American Edition" in curvy letters. On the back was the list of varieties to be found inside: Born in the USA, The Star Spangled Banner, California Girls, Home on the Range, Sweet Home Alabama, and New York, New York.  
  
She passed it over to a bemused Ron and Seamus. Ron rolled his eyes, "I knew they were up to something. They kept trying to feed me sweets all summer. I think Mum was almost relieved when they left."  
  
"Where did they go?"  
  
"They're interning at the Mad Max's Magical Modern Marvels corporation, learning the ropes of business, they already have a spot in Diagon Ally that looks promising for a store. They keep sending Mum letters making her think they are on the brink of starvation, so she keeps sending them food. Of course, Dad looks in on them every so often, and says they're fine. Never mentions it to Mum though."  
  
Lucy grinned. "That was sweet of them to remember. I ought to send some to-" She stopped herself a little to late. Part of the story she was supposed to give was that she had no idea where Diego was. She grinned sheepishly and gathered up the box and the wrapping. "I ought to send myself up to my room to get some sleep." She snatched up the mirror and was up the stairs to her room before Seamus and Ron could say another word.  
  
"She's acting strange."  
  
Ron scoffed, "She IS strange Seamus, or is that just now sinking in? Come on, she had a good idea for once."  
  
Seamus shook his head as they headed upstairs. "No, stranger than usual. She's hiding something."  
  
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Hogwarts teachers were notorious for grinding into their students at the start of the second term, almost as if they resented the holiday time spent at rest when they could have been learning. As a result, the first week back from vacation made it abundantly clear that they were on vacation no more. The work load was incredible, especially for the six and seventh years.  
  
Lucy remembered sixth year potions from her punishment last year. This year was no better. She hadn't joined the class until later in the term, so she wasn't going to be any better off than the rest of her classmates for quite some time. And her relationship with Professor Snape was no better than it had been right before she threw the cauldron at him that had gotten her the punishment in the first place.  
  
Lucy would always hate Snape, it was something that she had come to accept. Unlike the students that resented him and his difficult class, Lucy hated Snape on a much more personal level, and he had done nothing to redeem himself in her eyes. As a result, as they launched into the much more practically intensive half of the year, she spent most of the time she wasn't preparing ingredients or working staring straight at him. Diego had also taught her a beautiful little mind trick that made the victim FEEL like they were being watched, even when they weren't. Since it didn't require invading Snape's thoughts nor did it put him at any real risk, Lucy felt it was a completely viable form of retaliation. It was driving him crazy, but there was no way he could possibly pin it on her. This was, in addition, of course, to the multitude of sundry lies she told all during class about her vacation and the circle, knowing full well that Severus Snape was listening to every word.  
  
It was while she was trying to fillet a needlefish that Lucy heard:  
  
**Lucy, don't cut the head off, you need the eyes. Just fillet up to the gills and scrape out the gut.**  
  
She turned her head to see Bet Tsepish staring at her intently from across the isle. She did as she said and added the smelly bit of fish to the bubbling cauldron, watching it turn from a brownish mixture to a deep black.  
  
** Thanks. And you've been practicing, that was very clear.**  
  
** I know, we need to have a meeting soon.**  
  
** Of course we will, any reason to rush?**  
  
** Well... I'm not sure.**  
  
** What is it?**  
  
** On Christmas morning, I looked out the window, and I saw my grandparents coming up the road.**  
  
** They're not dead or anything are they?**  
  
** No, but they were still seven kilometers away.**  
  
Lucy nearly sliced her finger off. Lavender and Parvati gave her a Look and took away her knife, setting her to shelling the snow queen peas instead.  
  
** Really?**  
  
** Uh huh, and now I get these pictures in my head, on and off, in front of my normal vision, of places far away. Some I've never been to.**  
  
** You're right, we need to have a meeting.**  
  
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Unfortunately, the BA wasn't the only group to call a meeting. Lucy was waylaid by Warren Lane as soon as she got in from potions. The tall boy pulled her into a window nook and kept his voice low.  
  
"You didn't take the train, did you?"  
  
Lucy raised her eyebrows, "I don't know what-"  
  
"Lucy, it's ok! Wesley, William and I didn't take it either!"  
  
"What!"  
  
"Shhh, keep your voice down."  
  
"Sorry, how...."  
  
"We stayed in Hogsmeade at the Inn. Hopped on the back of one of the carriages when they passed by and entered just like everyone else."  
  
"So you didn't go through the paperwork either?"  
  
"Nope. And its not just us. I know that Alessandra and Karen weren't there either, rumor is it that the Kornakovitch kids were missing in action as well. And if Karen wasn't on the train than her sister Audrey probably wasn't either."  
  
Lucy saw where he was going. "So how many of us do you think defected?"  
  
Warren shrugged, "Can't be sure exactly. We haven't heard from the other houses, but with you that makes over half the Gryffindors, and I'm betting that a lot of the Slytherins dodged the ministry as well."  
  
"Why do you think them?"  
  
"Because they're Slytherins and they want to show that they can. The Ravenclaws hate breaking the rules, but they'll do it if they felt it was on principle. I'm not sure about the Hufflepuffs, but theirs was the smallest group anyway."  
  
Lucy nodded, "So how many would you guess?"  
  
"Right now, I'd say between twenty to twenty five."  
  
There had been a little over sixty people in the room on Halloween. Lucy nearly choked.  
  
"That's almost a half!"  
  
Warren grinned, "I know."  
  
Lucy shook her head, "No, this is BAD Warren. I mean, if it was a few of us we could slip through the system, but twenty five! They're going to notice, and they're going to look harder, and then the dragon droppings are going to hit the ventilation spell, to put it in familiar terms."  
  
Warren put his hands on her shoulders. "Calm down, Montero. Listen, we can handle this. The important thing is to find out who we are, and to get our story straight. Our numbers are our best protection. They can't expell all of us, or throw us in prison, or whatever they do to people who don't get their paperwork checked. But we have to have the same story, or then they can start picking us off."  
  
"Yeah, and I wonder who they're going to go for first."  
  
Warren raised his eyebrow.  
  
"The pictures, Warren, remember? The ones you showed me, when you were telling me NOT to rock the boat? And now you want to go and capsize it! Well apparently they already don't like me, now they have a real reason! If they are going to make an example out of someone, who do you think it is going to be?"  
  
Now she was upset. She was supposed to be flying LOW on the radar, keeping her head down, and her ears and deceitful little mouth open. Being hauled up on charges was NOT in the plans.  
  
Warren's face softened, "Hey, listen, everything is going to be fine. Everyone had that guy following them Lucy, not just you. There's no reason to think that they are after you specifically. Maybe I overemphasized that because we thought if we played along this would all go away. I'm sorry if I scared you. But it hasn't gone away, and no one is going to stop it unless we do something, all right? You're with us, we're not going to let them sacrifice you."  
  
She wanted to believe him, wanted to be able to put her whole life in the Aussie's large, strong hands, so she forced a smile and nodded. But even as he patted her on the shoulder and told her the time and place of the meeting, she was busy trying to figure out how this was going to work into the fabricated story she was supposed to be passing off as her life.  
  
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It was late that night when Faustas, making use of the clever shutters that the girls had bought Lucy last year, which had been re-installed in the bedroom window, carefully crept in and along the post of the bed right next to the window, Lucy's. Then, quite unceremoniously, he dropped a scroll on her head and left. The thunk of the heavy seal connecting with her forehead woke her, and she stared mystified at the document before pulling out her wand so she could see.  
  
She could see nothing, at least at first. Then, as she ran her fingers over the paper, symbols began to appear. It was the Machu Pichu code. As she murmured the words to descramble the message, letters began to appear. It was Quechua, and as she read it she still understood nothing. Then she remembered what Sofia had said about using her ring. She turned her right hand over and ran the band along a line of text.  
  
"To Lucille Montero of Espiritu, Hogwarts School, Britain."  
  
So that was how to crack to code. She read on a detailed account of the High Council minutes. The poor representatives were still in Mexico, on account of the most alarming occurrences being reported even as they sat from distant schools.  
  
Lucy read on.  
  
A sickness seemed to be coming over the community. Nothing of body, but of mind. It was as if the very energy they were being trained to use, was slowly poisoning them.  
  
Three small schools, located very closed together in the wilds of Siberia had succumbed. They found the only recourse was to cease their studies and actively shield themselves from the energy lines running under the school. Fortunately they did not sit upon a node, a vast underground pool of immense energy and power, but the results were serious enough. Channels burned raw by use of the energy may not be capable of use again once the students have recovered. Similar effects were being seen at another school several miles to the east, and an evacuation to Nepal would be underway soon.  
  
Lucy read on with detached disinterest in the rest of the reports being given from the Amazon school system, and mechanically re-sealed the scroll with the imprint of the Masters Ring to verify that she had received the document. That seemed to be all that was necessary, and the scroll shrunk to a much smaller size, very convenient for hiding, although the possibility of anyone being able to break the code was very unlikely. She put the miniature scroll under her pillow for safe keeping until she could transfer it to Asriel's workroom. Faustas seemed to think his work was done and departed through the window. Lucy put sleep off long enough to close the window while still snuggled up in her bed. Once the latch fell down, she was out.  
  
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The meeting of the international students was Wednesday afternoon. Lucy was planning on telling Hermione, so she wouldn't get worried if she wasn't at dinner and draw more attention to Lucy's absence, but the bushy haired girl was nowhere to be found. Lucy wondered why she was surprised by this; Harry, Ron, and Hermione had been up to something all year, and whatever it was wasn't making them happy.  
  
The results of the whole affair weren't terribly helpful. And it was worse than Warren had predicted. With the affirmation that Nicholas and Svetlana had indeed jumped ship with the rest of them, that made a total of eight defecting Gryffindors. Karen's sister Audrey, along with Sergei Petrov, Aysha Doman, Lukas Getman, Mikhail Fedorov, and Magda Sclafani brought the Ravenclaw total to six. As suspected, Lorenzo Costanzo, Gisella Trifiro, Maeve Abrahms, and Leigh Rapkin were the only Hufflepuffs to take the risk. But what really put the tally over the edge were the Slytherins. Misha Grigorev, Katya Kuzmin, Dimitri Chernyshev, Sasha Yudin, Vladimir Petrenko, Costanzo Rossetti, Lesley Arong, Mai Setsuko, Saori Mitsuya, and Kentaro and Koji Tsujimoto brought the total number of delinquent international students to 29.  
  
Lucy massaged her temples as she made her way along the halls towards Asriel's workroom. The BA meeting was going to take place right after dinner, so she had a few moments to get some last minute work done, more if she skipped the meal all together. But the events of the afternoon continued to replay themselves in her mind.  
  
"We couldn't have found someplace warmer Warren, my toes are going to fall off!"  
  
"No one is going to be out here, and there are several ways to get back, so it won't look like we all came at once."  
  
"IF we make it back, I'm about ready to die right now. And to think we were at the beach not so long ago..."  
  
Lucy had grinned and drawn her cloak tighter about her. The "meeting place" was outside around the back of the school at the base of one of the tower walls, facing the lake. There were fewer windows on this side, and all were shuttered against the wind that blew off the water forcing the Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs to huddle together in a circle; crowded into the nook where the curving tower met the flat of the long wall, and provided a little shelter.  
  
The Slytherins were late. As the Lanes bickered Mikhail and Gisella watched to the left and right, waiting for the tardy members to come around one side of the castle.  
  
So it was to everyone's surprise when the 11 students approached from directly opposite the wall they were huddled around. No one even saw them until Misha made a comment about the location that made everyone jump.  
  
"How did they do that".... Lucy heard Magda mutter to Lorenzo, but she quickly grew quiet as they realized just how many the Slytherins were. Every single one of them, right down to first year Sasha Yudin, had refused to comply with the Ministry's regulations. Lucy groaned quietly as she felt her chances of staying out of trouble and keeping a low profile slipping farther from her grasp.  
  
Audrey shrugged, "Well, we needed someplace that no one in there right mind would choose hang out near."  
  
"Well, you certainly got what you wanted," Dimitri muttered.  
  
Gisella sighed and pulled her hat down farther over her ears, "Maybe we better get this done as fast as possible."  
  
"I still don't understand why we all had to meet in the first place. I don't understand the big deal."  
  
Before anyone could respond to Dimitri's comment Katya slapped him up the side of the head. "That's because you never listen. I TOLD you we weren't going to just get away with this. Everyone seems to realize there is going to be some kind of repercussion but you, you stupid ox."  
  
She couldn't help it, she burst out laughing. She found she wasn't the only one. Aysha, Svetlana, Alessandra, Magda, Sasha, practically all the girls couldn't help but laugh at the fuming look on Dimitri's face. Katya grinned and crossed her arms in a most satisfied manner.  
  
"Well," Maeve began, as she collected herself, "We thought we at least ought to decide what we were going to do. You know, how we want the Ministry to treat us."  
  
"How about just like everybody else?" Kojo offered.  
  
"I don't know if that's still a possibility, mate."  
  
Lucy shook her head, "Doesn't any of what they are doing violate our civil rights?"  
  
She met a circle of blank faces, and reality dawned on her, "Oh, I forgot, we don't have any of those, do we?"  
  
Misha shook his head. "There has never been any sort of Bill of Rights for resident aliens within the Ministry."  
  
"What about outside of it?"  
  
"Most of us never deal with the embassy's. Too much paperwork to forge to get an actual student VISA."  
  
"We're screwed."  
  
"Not if we had rights," William volunteered.  
  
"How?"  
  
"We'd have to get some sort of law passed that guaranteed us protection from discrimination. That forced the ministry to treat us the same as they would treat any Hogwarts student." Audrey mused.  
  
"An amnesty act," Lukas nodded, "amnesty for international Hogwarts students. Any investigation of the Ministry's into international threats would be forced to leave us alone if we were at Hogwarts."  
  
"Immunity," Kentaro added, "We would have to be granted immunity."  
  
"Wouldn't that give us the ability to commit all sorts of crimes? They would never agree to it," Wesley shook his head.  
  
"No," Lucy was beginning to think the idea had promise, "because if we were at Hogwarts we would automatically be under the control of Dumbledore. And if he really thinks we were involved in something, he could expel us."  
  
"And if we were no longer enrolled we would lose our immunity/amnesty thing and the Ministry could prosecute us." Warren concluded triumphantly. "That's fair enough."  
  
"Especially if there was some sort of department among the Ministry's foreign embassies that would be able to help accused prepare a defense, so they couldn't just railroad us into prison."  
  
"A department to protect the civil liberties of resident alien wizards." Misha grinned, "We don't ask for little things now, do we?"  
  
Lesley looked skeptical, "So how are we going to get them?"  
  
How indeed, Lucy reflected as she sank onto one of the padded benches and began to go over the abstract of her first Master's thesis; due in a little less than ten days. They had all agreed that if questioned they would claim to have met in London and taken the Hogsmeade train or the Floo network to the fireplace in the basement of the Three Broomsticks. You could get right from the cellar up to the street there, so that would explain if no one had seen them. They had then waited for the Hogwarts Express to arrive the next day and slipped in among the rest of the returning students and grabbed a few coaches back to the castle.  
  
It wasn't a perfect story, but it would do. Getting the Ministry to do the rest of what they wanted was going to take careful planning. Lucy tried to forget about that as she carefully went over her proofs, her experiment results, and the carefully worded conclusions she had drawn, as well as the portion on how this would funnel into her next thesis.  
  
She was about to doze off when at glance at her watch told her she was going to be late for the BA meeting. She hastily reset the wards as she left and dashed through the halls towards the bathroom entrance. Her work, it seemed, was never done. 


	15. Chapter Fifteen: The Unforgiven

Chapter Fifteen: The Unforgiven  
  
It never rains but it pours. So it WOULD be just as Lucy was trying her best to keep a low profile, do her dirty little assignment for the Circle, prevent Lynx from torching anything, although his gift did explain why that particular flame spurt from the paper pile had been so high, helping to prepare a draft of the International Student Immunity Act for presentation to whomever it was one presented such things to, as well as maintain decent marks in all her classes, that the Circle chose that moment to pull her into the Siberian crisis.  
  
After two weeks of careful analysis the Maintainers knew that something to the north of the schools was seriously poisoning the energy flow, throwing it dangerously off balance. However, this particular form of pollution was completely unknown to even the oldest and most experienced Maintainer. So it came to be that Faustas dropped a heavy ceramic jar, sealed with wax and the stamps of both the Guild of Maintainers and the Guild of Masters, into Lucy's lap as she sat on her bed trying to make Transfiguration make sense.  
  
"Oh what now?" Lucy was grumpy and completely frustrated with the Circle in general. It was one thing to simply pass along whatever military gossip Chester let slip, but it was quite another to casually ask Harry about Sirius's whereabouts, what he was looking for, what he had found. She flat out refused to search around in Harry's head, as had been tentatively suggested, but did manage to open her senses up just a little bit so that if he was projecting unconsciously, as most people do when they get mail, she would pick up on it.  
  
Snape, was another matter all together. She had absolutely no qualms about spying on him, as she became increasingly aware that he WAS spying on her. Not directly, but, for example, yesterday while she had been staring at him he had been thinking VERY hard about something Dumbledore had said to him, an answer to a question, and the question had concerned her. That was all she managed to gleam without going deeper, and going into Snape's head was the last thing she wanted to do. She preferred to let certain comments, lies all of them, slip during class, or in the hall if he was nearby, and read his emotional reaction. It wasn't invasive, so it was fair game.  
  
But she hadn't been expecting a call for earth sense. At first the sight of the jar had terrified her, and she had screamed, and been on the verge of hysterics before Faustas had gotten it through to her that no one was hurt, there had been no attack, they just wanted to see if maybe what was wrong in Siberia was tied in any way to something here.  
  
So she broke the seal and stuck in her hand, only to be overwhelmed by coldness, a deep invasive cold that seemed to penetrate flesh and bone and mind. She searched deeper, to the energy resonance, to find what the Circle had, a complete imbalance, as if the energy pool had been drained of all sustenance, nourishment, warmth and light, and left with a toxic level of cold, a penetrating darkness that sapped energy from whatever touched it; the energy had an unnatural appetite. The less appealing parts of nature, predation, cold, darkness, death, and decay, were also a vital part of the energy cycle, and each did their part in maintaining the natural energy flow of the planet. But by themselves, unchecked by their opposites, they rose to toxic and dangerous levels.  
  
Lucy removed her hand once she had a good sense of what was there, but she was still cold. Not in body, but in her head. The energy in the soil seemed to prey upon the mind, and for anyone with heightened senses that was as draining as running a marathon.  
  
For Lucy, the first thing she had to do was throw up. Then she held her hands under the hot water in the bathroom until she could feel them again.  
  
What, in the name of all the little gods, could have done that?  
  
Item number seventy-eight on her to-do list.  
  
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"Godspeed, little one, may you be well received and treated with the respect you deserve."  
  
** For the love of the Lady! Lucy, it's only a thesis!**  
  
Lucy hugged the leather portfolio to her chest. "Only a thesis! Don't you listen to him! And you! I have poured my blood, my sweat, my tears into this-"  
  
** And you will do the same with the next one. Never become emotionally attached chica, especially to things that can easily be burned. Now hurry up so I can slip off while they're all looking at those ridiculous children on broomsticks. Otherwise a large hawk carrying a portfolio might look somewhat strange.**  
  
Lucy sighed and fastened the portfolio to the harness on Faustas's chest. "You know, you've never given that game a chance..."  
  
** Don't you start, it's barbaric, that's what it is. And if you're mentor EVER found out you had been up there under my watch I'm not entirely sure that my semi-divine status would protect me from his wrath. The possibility of you playing was one of the strongest reasons he had to overcome before deciding to send you here. So you either keep your feet on the ground or rise above it of your own volition, NO wooden intermediaries to be used, understand?**  
  
"I'll try," was all Lucy would say, although she had no intention of ever being on the same field as an unrestrained bludger.  
  
** Well, try hard. I'm going to stay and consult for a little bit, try and stay out of trouble for a week, hmm?**  
  
"Yes, oh graybeard."  
  
With that she let him climb onto her arm before she carried him to the window and launched him out into the afternoon sun. As he headed out over the forest Lucy grabbed her cloak and dashed off to the pitch.  
  
She managed to squeeze into the stands next to the other sixth years just as the Gryffindors poured out into the air. As Lucy gazed over the two teams, she noticed something peculiar.  
  
"Who's that?" She pointed to the chaser on the side of the pitch closest to them, and directly opposite Ginny in the pre-game configuration.  
  
Hermione shrugged, "I don't know. Parvati, who's the Slytherin chaser with the brown hair?"  
  
Parvati squinted a moment. "Umm, oh, that's Christopher, Christopher Moore."  
  
Lucy shook her head, "He doesn't usually play, does he?" What was bothering her was that the person who normally played that position was Dimitri. Why on earth wouldn't he be out there?  
  
Parvati grinned, "Oh, you missed the big pre-game gossip. Christopher is on the reserves, he gets to play because Snape kicked the normal chaser off the team!"  
  
"What? Why?"  
  
Parvati shrugged, "He didn't say, but it just happened. The whispers came around from the Ravenclaw side that, umm, Chernyshev, that's it, Chernyshev had been all ready to go when Snape, furious, bursts into the Slytherin strategy room and tells him he's off the team. Christopher gets to go on by default. No one knows the reason, but look, Snape isn't even here! His own house is playing and he isn't here!"  
  
"McGonagall's not here either," Hermione noted quietly. A quick glance at the faculty box showed that Professor Sprout and the Headmaster were also missing; several other seats were empty as well.  
  
Lucy didn't like the look of this. She liked it even less when an unmistakable Scottish burr came from behind her.  
  
"Miss Montero?"  
  
Lucy turned to see McGonagall, shaking her head so furiously her tartan was shaking, standing behind her.  
  
Lucy gulped, "Yes, professor?"  
  
"Please come with me."  
  
Lucy realized this was not a good time to argue, so she silently followed as the Head of House lead her down to the bottom of the stands. Waiting there already were the Lanes, Alessandra, Karen, Svetlana, and Nicholas, who was still in his uniform, he was one of the Gryffindor reserves.  
  
"You will all come with me, immediately."  
  
They followed McGonagall in silence back to the school, up the stairs, and through the halls to her office.  
  
"Inside, all of you."  
  
They filed in and lined up before her desk. The professor began to sit, and then stood, as if she was too angry to take a chair.  
  
"I was shocked; shocked, appalled and ashamed to hear that no less than eight of MY students had flagrantly flaunted the Ministry's edict with regard to student immigration."  
  
Silence.  
  
"Did you think no one would notice? It was only a matter of time before it was discovered that the current student roster included a large number of students who had not passed through with the proper paperwork. Did you think yourselves so far above the laws that they no longer applied to you? How can you expect the Ministry to protect you and all of its citizens if you refuse to cooperate?"  
  
Silence.  
  
"What right do you think you have to decide what is best?"  
  
"We don't seem to have any rights at all," Lucy mumbled under her breath. Warren jabbed her in the ribs and shook his head.  
  
"What was that, Miss Montero? Speak up, I would LOVE to hear what you have to say for yourself."  
  
"Nothing, professor, only that we don't seem to have any rights at all."  
  
McGonagall paused for a moment, and Lucy briefly thought she understood, before:  
  
"There are things going one right now that NONE of you are aware of. Serious and DANGEROUS things, and it is the Ministry's job to keep you and your fellow students safe. THEY have the right to determine how to do that, NOT you! This may work a little differently from what you are used to back home, but you realize that if you prefer it so much you always have the option to STAY THERE."  
  
Silence.  
  
"Since this was not a school rule but a Ministry order that you violated, the power to punish you lies with the Ministry. Professor Dumbledore is taking no action, but as Head of House I am authorized to use the sphere of my control to impress on you the severity of what has occurred. This afternoon Dimitri Chernyshev, one of your comrades in delinquency, was removed from the Slytherin Quidditch team. The same decision applies to you Mr. Kornakovitch; no practicing, no games, and your name will be removed from the roster."  
  
Her gaze shifted to Lucy for a moment before she began to address the group again.  
  
"I am also supposed to impart to you the Ministry's decision, which was reached during the holiday and is not directly connected with this incident, that in light of the need to focus attention and funds within our own borders, all scholarships, work studies, and other forms of financial aid to international students are being revoked. Your current arrangements will see you through the end of the term but after that you will need to seek other funds."  
  
Lucy examined her shoe very, very carefully, and noticed that Alessandra Dicus was doing the same. There was no time to wallow in it, however, since McGonagall was striding toward the door.  
  
"Follow me, a representative from the Ministry is going to be explaining to you how things will proceed from here. You will join the other houses in the Headmaster's office. Quickly now, quickly."  
  
It was a tense and silent procession through the halls and up the spiraling staircase into Dumbledore's office. The Slytherins, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs were already there.  
  
"The Ministry official will address you from the fireplace. I expect absolute respect and SILENCE," Snape glared at them all before indicating where they should stand.  
  
In a few moments a head appeared in the fireplace, a man, in his mid forties, with dark, neat hair and unreadable eyes stared back at them.  
  
"Is this the lot of them, Minerva?"  
  
McGonagall nodded, "Yes."  
  
Lucy watched the eyes of the head roam over all of their features carefully.  
  
"It has come to the attention of the Ministry that every student assembled here failed to properly re-enter the country at the start of term. As such, you are all here ILLEGALY."  
  
The students' eyes grew wide, and Lucy cast a glance at Warren, whose jaw was set firm, and seemed more angry than anything else.  
  
"As this is a violation of Ministry law, it is our responsibility to investigate and prosecute this offense according to code. However, we have no officials to spare to send out to Hogwarts to deal with you."  
  
William and Sasha breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
Prematurely.  
  
"The only option is for you to be transported to the Ministry Offices in London."  
  
Sasha turned white and William swore silently.  
  
"However, as your headmaster has refused to allow your education to be interrupted- is that still your decision Professor Dumbledore?"  
  
The students turned suddenly. None of them had heard the door at the top of the stairs open, but the headmaster was there, standing at the rail, watching the proceedings.  
  
"That it is, Montgomery, whatever it is you seem to think they have done, I have been entrusted by their parents, and guardians, to provide them with an education. Several of them are not very happy with your Department, you know."  
  
Montgomery tried not to look frazzled, and returned to addressing the students he was more comfortable trying to intimidate. "Regardless of public opinion, you are in the custody of your headmaster during term, and if he will not release you, as minors, to the Ministry than we have no other option than to delay the proceedings until the Easter holidays. You will take the Express, in a separate car and under escort, to London. Lodgings will be provided for the duration of your stay from generous Hogwarts alumni, and I expect complete cooperation. Consider yourselves under VERY close observation from now on."  
  
Montgomery seemed to have little to say after that, he gave a curt nod to Dumbledore and the assembled faculty before vanishing in what Lucy thought was a rather pouty puff of smoke.  
  
When they turned around, Dumbledore was gone. Lucy could have sworn she'd heard a dog bark before her attention was drawn away.  
  
McGonagall approached the clump of Gryffindors. "I have to consult with the headmaster. You will return to the common room quickly, quietly, and DIRECTLY." Her gaze fixed on Warren, and Lucy had a feeling she knew who would be held responsible if they wandered off toward the pitch.  
  
As they exited the stairs they could hear Snape's growl, "Slytherin!" and watched the flock of students almost jogging to keep up with the long strides of their head of house disappearing down the hall. No one dared to fall behind. She shuddered; as did Nicholas and Svetlana, and for the three thousandth time thanked the little gods she hadn't been put in that house.  
  
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"Well, so much for keeping a low profile," Lucy muttered to herself as she stared out the window at the tiny specs flitting back in forth about the Quidditch pitch in the distance.  
  
"Where do they send people now that there's not really an Azkaban?" Nicholas had not taken off his uniform, and was staring despondently out of the next window over.  
  
"I think that would require the Ministry to admit that they lost it first," Warren commented dryly.  
  
The condemned, being the only ones left in the tower with a match against Slytherin going on, were sulking in the common room together. Misery seemed indeed to love company.  
  
"Would this be a bad time to say that I told you-"  
  
"Yes." One word from Warren silenced Lucy on the subject.  
  
"We're doomed," Karen's muffled voice arose from under the pillow she was holding over her face.  
  
"Do you think Magical Medical Schools frown on expulsion and a criminal record?" Alessandra halfheartedly leafed through her potions notes from the last week.  
  
"Do you really think they are going to convict us of anything?" William didn't even pay attention as his knight brutally bludgeoned Wesley's pawn.  
  
"Even if they don't, it doesn't matter," Alessandra tossed her quill on the floor, "I won't be able to come back here regardless."  
  
Lucy nodded, "I don't think Gringotts gives student loans."  
  
Warren looked up, curious.  
  
"The money, Warren. Regardless of what happens in London the Ministry isn't going to give us any more funds for tuition and supplies."  
  
"Who else is getting them?"  
  
Lucy shrugged, "I don't know, I got the general impression that family finances weren't a subject people liked to talk about, but then again, I was hanging around with a Weasley."  
  
"Chandrika is here on scholarship too," Alessandra added quietly.  
  
"Really?" Warren's eyes practically lit up.  
  
"You know, expressing joy at other's financial difficulties is generally considered tacky," Lucy sniffed.  
  
"No, not that, I didn't mean that, but, don't you see, that's perfect."  
  
Lucy gave Warren a blank stare, "Why?"  
  
"Because Chandrika didn't break any rules, she filed all of her paperwork just like the Ministry told her."  
  
"She's not an illegal magical alien like the rest of us," Wesley chuckled.  
  
"But she presents a good image."  
  
"What do we need a good image for, they already don't like us, or did that escape you're notice?" Svetlana snapped.  
  
"We have to start somewhere. And now we seem to be working in a time crunch. We can start this as just an attempt to get equal funding, equal opportunities for every student at Hogwarts."  
  
"And we are going to start this campaign, how?"  
  
Warren grinned, "We already had that part planned out: letters."  
  
"Oooooh, that'll show 'em. They'll be running scared."  
  
"This isn't the Wild West, you have to go about these things systematically, not just jump in guns blazing."  
  
"Ugh, that is such a stupid stereotype of south westerners-"  
  
"One which you are doing nothing to disprove. I admit, it's boring, but we have tried putting up, and that didn't work. If we want to look like responsible young adults and not whining schoolchildren, then we have to present this in a calm and deliberate manner."  
  
"You plan on taking the Ministry bar, don't you?"  
  
Warren grinned, "My mom's brother-in-law is a muggle lawyer in Alice Springs."  
  
"Great, you are going to become evil."  
  
But the rest of the students liked the suggestion, and Lucy had no choice but to go along. But by her count the civil rights movement had started in just such a sluggish manner, and it had taken decades. She was already a sixth year, and things in the world were already starting to get out of whack. They didn't really have that much time.  
  
So it was that over the next week every international student was mobilized to send letters, dozens apiece, to anyone they thought would listen, and even those they didn't. They pleaded their case; they were just students, they wanted an education, their parents had put them in the care of the Ministry when they sent them there, and now the Ministry was trying to use them as scapegoats. They were defenseless. They wanted to learn, but the only choice they had open to them was to flee, to return home, and even that could be taken from them if the Ministry decided to start prosecuting them for crimes they did not commit. Those students who knew people in the Ministry made note of who had children, who they could appeal to by making them think of their own sons and daughters.  
  
By mid-February, they had used all their words. Lucy hoped it wasn't all they had for their defense.  
  
They had decided it was best to say nothing to anyone else, just as it had been best to keep quiet about not being on the train. They never said why, but they all guessed it was because although there was no longer the echo of footsteps behind them, they never knew who might still be listening.  
  
The Quidditch game had been a draw, Seamus and the rest had returned in too foul a mood to question Lucy as to her whereabouts. It was even worse for Nicholas, who had to tell the team he had been suspended from playing because he had cheated on a Transfiguration assignment. The team ostracized him for being so stupid, and because the offense was such an obvious violation of the rules, and in McGonagall's own class, they never questioned her about it.  
  
Lucy told Hermione and the girls that McGonagall had needed to discuss with her an assignment that she had handed in late. Lucy had been forced to write another foot to make up for that or she would be marked down even more severely. McGonagall, Lucy said, had then hurried off to confer about something with the headmaster, which was after all, partially true.  
  
It scared Lucy how easy it was for her to lie nowadays. A solid month of it had made her fine-tuned in inventing stories that could not be refuted by any evidence, or heavily questioned.  
  
And from what she was hearing, both in the school and abroad, she was going to have to get better at it.  
  
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Lucy had sent her thesis off at the end of January. Faustas stayed a week, returned, and left after another week. He returned a week later, just as Lucy was finishing her business with the international students' attempt to gain attention. He had a portfolio strapped to his chest.  
  
She quickly removed it, as well as the harness, and released the hawk back onto the grounds. He circled back.  
  
** I need to talk with you chica.**  
  
Lucy looked up, annoyed. She wanted to be alone with her thesis, and whatever critique had been made. If it had been rejected she would have to start re-working immediately.  
  
"So, talk."  
  
** Not now, not while you're mind is elsewhere, but soon. It is getting noisy.**  
  
Lucy pulled her head up and gave Faustas a Look. Noisy was never good.  
  
"I'll talk to you tonight. I have to read this and then I have a work session with Rasheph."  
  
** When do you plan to sleep, querida?**  
  
Lucy's eyes went cold and she shrugged off the implication. "When I'm finished. Now go on, you're going to attract attention and gods know I have enough of that."  
  
She practically shoved him off the window, and waited till he set off towards the forest to shove the portfolio under her robes and make for Asriel's workroom.  
  
Once inside, she found a bench, sat down, and pulled out her thesis.  
  
A thin sheet of parchment inside the cover fell to the floor, Lucy floated it up to her fingertips.  
  
She read every word, every nuance, between every line to discover what the guild had really thought about her work. It was obvious they found the subject matter obscure, but not irrelevant. As Lucy had hoped she would be able to make them see, they saw how further exploration of this method and field could become applicable to use in many schools, even past the parameters she had set on it now. There were oversights, holes she had missed which she could fill in. But she could achieve all that in an addendum, there would be no need for a re-write. This was confirmed when she flipped to the last page of her work, and at the bottom saw scrawled in a hand not her own, in Quechua, "Accepted."  
  
She wanted to dance, but instead returned to the critique. It was clear that "accepted" did not mean "agreed," but because it had not been rejected she was free to submit her second thesis. She didn't have to wait a year for this one either, now she could submit them, still only one at a time, but as fast as she could work them out. Which was good, because she didn't have a lot of time to waste.  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&  
  
"Why are we meeting here? What if someone comes in?"  
  
"It isn't curfew yet, we'll just look like we're studying. Besides, we need a window."  
  
Lucy and Rasheph were seated on the ground below a window in the OWL prep room above the BA meeting room. Through the tall glass, which Lucy had pushed open, letting in the sting of the February air, the night sky twinkled.  
  
"Tell me again what you are hearing."  
  
Rasheph sighed. "It's only at night. And the voice, I can't tell if it is a girl or a boy, sometimes it sounds like many. But they aren't really clear. They sort of command, tell me to be wary, to learn, to pay attention. Who's mind is like that?"  
  
Lucy cracked her neck. "No one's, at least no one I know. I don't think you're hearing someone's thoughts, Rasheph."  
  
"I'm hearing something."  
  
"I know you are, but I don't think it's human."  
  
"Than what is it, a ghost?"  
  
"Not quite. I think you're hearing the stars."  
  
Rasheph stared at her.  
  
"Oh don't look at me like that. Compared with some of the stuff you've seen this really shouldn't be all that weird."  
  
"The stars?"  
  
Lucy nodded. "Try focusing on them, pick one, and block the rest of the world out. It should seize on you."  
  
She watched him as he slowly bit his lower lip, which he usually did when focusing. All of a sudden his eyes flew open and he gasped.  
  
"Wow!"  
  
Lucy grimaced, "Eager, aren't they? They're rather attention starved, so they grab on when they sense someone is listening."  
  
"You could have warned me."  
  
"You didn't believe me."  
  
"Point taken, well I do now. So..."  
  
"So?"  
  
"What is this used for?"  
  
Lucy rolled her eyes and stood up, leaning out into the night.  
  
"That depends entirely on you. It really is a rare gift to come so late, it usually manifests itself in the young. The young and easily influenced."  
  
"Can, can I talk back?"  
  
"Oh yes. Eventually, if you wish. It's different than the mind speech that Bet is learning, the stars do most of the work, but should you chose to, you can have long involved conversations."  
  
Rasheph looked at Lucy closely. "Do you often talk to them?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Why not? I mean, once you get over the shock, its really quite pretty, it sounds like-"  
  
"Music," Lucy nodded, "A little different for everyone, but always like music. For Diego they sound like bells, for my mentor it was a single violin, someone at Espiritu once said for him it sounded like a blues guitar..."  
  
"What do they sound like to you, when you do listen?"  
  
"Drums," Lucy said softly, "they were always drums for me, with the occasional cymbal crash thrown in for good measure when they got angry. What do they sound like to you?"  
  
"Singing," Rasheph smiled softly, "Once I focused on the stars it stopped sounding like voices, I still understood what they were saying, but it sounded like singing, no words, just notes."  
  
"Must be pretty."  
  
"Why don't you talk to them Lucy?"  
  
She sighed and rubbed her temples, "You will find, eventually, that what they like to do the most is give advice. They've been around longer than any of us and they think it gives them the right to tell us what to do. And most of them have grown so arrogant that they presume to tell us what the future holds for us."  
  
"They tell us our destinies?"  
  
"No," Lucy answered sharply, "at least, I've never believed it. I believe that they can give very good advice, and to that effect I occasionally listen to see if they have anything interesting to say. But-"  
  
"You don't believe in fate."  
  
"No, I don't and I never have. You make your own destiny. And while the stars understand what has always been, they aren't very up on the recently discovered. Not that they'll admit it. Which I have told them. Maybe its why I get so many cymbal crashes in the conversation."  
  
He smiled, "I understand why they are so eager."  
  
Lucy raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Well, if most people are like you, they must be thrilled anyone speaks to them at all."  
  
Lucy shrugged, "There will always be people who want to have their paths laid out for them, even if they are the wrong ones, just so they won't have the pressure of making choices. But as there become fewer and fewer of the old circle, mankind has turned his thoughts in on himself, and no longer seeks his answers from on high. If you ask me, it is a much more sensible way to solve problems."  
  
She closed the window and rubbed her arms.  
  
"Well, now that you know what to listen for, you can do it from the warmth of your own bed. And, like I said, they'll teach you everything you need to know."  
  
Rasheph opened the trap door and grinned, "I guess I get to be the easy one, this round."  
  
"You were never the hard one, it seems like Lynx always gets to be the one to threaten me with flying objects, only now they are FLAMING flying objects."  
  
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She had almost forgotten about her agreement with Faustas as she drifted off to sleep, only to be rudely interrupted.  
  
** I had a long conversation with Sofia.**  
  
** And?**  
  
** And she seems to be of the opinion that you and Diego are not holding by what they decided was best for you in December.**  
  
**I think Diego and I know what is best for us better than Sofia and Abraham, no matter how good their intentions.**  
  
** So you have been communicating with him?**  
  
Lucy paused for a moment, just how many secrets was she supposed to be keeping?  
  
** Yes I have, but I haven't been writing him or using the mirror, so I don't really think we were breaking any rules.**  
  
Faustas snorted. ** Well, I told her it was a foolish idea to try and separate you two.**  
  
** So are you going to run back and confirm her suspicions?*  
  
** I ought to, but then, you won't accomplish anything if we tie you up and gang you, so I think I'll just keep this to myself. But how have you been speaking then?**  
  
Lucy shrugged, knowing the gesture was useless, since it was dark and Faustas was most likely somewhere in the forest.  
  
**It isn't really that different from normal mind speech. I have to put more power behind it, and be very focused and calmed, or extremely angry, and I can sort of just "be". Once I saw what he was seeing, but most of the time that is all it takes to get his attention.**  
  
**Mmm, I probably should have suspected that. I'm not surprised Sofia didn't though, you two have always been a puzzle.**  
  
**Why is that?**  
  
**Well, you were both uncharacteristically young to start your education, and then you did so much of it together. It isn't often that mentored students are given over to the guidance of someone else, but you learned a great deal from Girlaldi, and Diego learned a great deal from Antolin, and what's more, you taught each other a great deal. There are some relationships, like parent to child, or between twins and siblings that we really don't understand, just accept.**  
  
**You think Diego and I have that?**  
  
**Oh I'm certain, and I think deep down you two knew you were uncommonly close. That's why he let you have half of his strand, it's why when you two pulled out of consciousness you were able to find each other. I think it is a by-product of sharing magic and childhood that is hard to break, you could probably find him anywhere, conscious or not.**  
  
** So was that all you had to talk to me about?**  
  
**Sadly no, chica, I just wanted you to know what was going on in the world. What I have to talk with you deals with Siberia.**  
  
**I already told the council that nothing I have experienced here has remotely felt like that.**  
  
**I know, but I think you need to see if the land has felt anything like that.**  
  
**What?**  
  
**You need to take a sample and see.**  
  
**This is really old country, Faustas...**  
  
** I know, but something tells me that whatever caused that poisoning is connected with the Eastern Circle.**  
  
**It's possible, they're careless enough about the after-effects of spells for anything, but I doubt that they could damage anything as elemental as that... they're using a different system of energy and-**  
  
**I read the thesis, querida, I don't need it recited back, and while it is a good theory, that doesn't mean we shouldn't pursue this.**  
  
**You really think I need to do this?**  
  
**I know the idea probably doesn't thrill you-**  
  
**You have no idea.**  
  
**-but I need you to trust me. I can feel it.**  
  
It was enough for her. When a tierra guardian felt something, there was something to be felt.  
  
**All right, I'll do it. Is that all the noise you have to tell me?**  
  
**Not in the least. Someone is tracking the Sahara school.**  
  
**What?**  
  
**Not too quickly, and not too well, but they started laying down a darker, false trail several months ago, and someone is following it.**  
  
**You think they are going to be attacked?**  
  
**They escaped it once already, they know what to do, but it is disturbing that the hunters are still on the trail.**  
  
**Anywhere else?**  
  
**Small perimeter disturbances in some of the larger Amazon schools, the Kalahari commune has been picking up a strange presence on their perimeter over the past few days, and someone was poking around Chichen Itza.**  
  
**Not tourists?**  
  
**No, this was magical, but not ours, my guess is that it was Easterners. And Chichen Itza was a part of your story, correct?**  
  
**It has been dropped in all the right ears that there was a "meeting" going on there. They have no reason to think there wasn't.**  
  
**Well there you go.**  
  
**So what do I do?**  
  
**Sit tight, and try not to get hauled up on any more stupid immigration charges and you should be fine. Abraham doesn't like you leaving the school.**  
  
**I thought Abraham and the rest were under the impression that I shouldn't BE at the school.**  
  
**They are, but if you have to be over there at all the only thing that makes it semi-reasonable is the fact that you are under the care of a wizard who, despite his flagrant lack of respect for the safety and sanctity of outside communities, is very protective of his own students. No, they don't like trusting your safety to the Ministry.**  
  
**They aren't going to try and interfere, are they?**  
  
**No, I have given them the probably false impression that you have it all under control. But they were all good friends of Antolin and they have flung "what would he say"s in my face for weeks.**  
  
**What did you say?**  
  
**That Antolin trusted you enough to send you away and that should be enough faith in Albus Dumbledore to satisfy any of them.**  
  
**Bless you.**  
  
** I already am. Now go to sleep.**  
  
He didn't need to ask her twice. 


	16. Chapter Sixteen: Lose Yourself

Chapter Sixteen: Lose Yourself  
  
"So what do you think?"  
  
"I don't think it's supposed to be that color Lucy."  
  
"But I followed the formula exactly!"  
  
"If you followed it exactly it wouldn't be that color now, would it? And, is that-is that peanut butter I smell?"  
  
"I didn't put any in if that is what you are implying."  
  
"Oh dear."  
  
Potions was not going very well. Lucy was beyond frustrated; since she had made this potion before, last year, and it had definitely not come out a wild neon orange color and smelling like a strange combination of peanut butter and pickles.  
  
Hermione, whose potion was simmering nicely and promised to remove the hair from a cat in under ten seconds, was now peering anxiously into Lucy's cauldron and sifting through her ingredient pile.  
  
"Lucy, what is this?"  
  
Lucy looked over her shoulder, "What do you mean, what is that? It's baby bat teeth, what else would it be?'  
  
"Where did you get it?"  
  
"From the stock jar in the student supply cupboard like everyone else."  
  
Hermione paused.  
  
"You were late today, weren't you?"  
  
Lucy shrugged, "Not terribly, Snape didn't even snap that hard."  
  
"But it did mean that by the time you had your pre-brewing procedure copied down, everyone else had already collected their ingredients."  
  
Lucy paused, and gave Hermione a sharp look, "That's right..."  
  
Hermione scowled, placed both hands on the table and stood up in a fluid determined movement. She strode over to the student supply cupboard and examined the large stone jars on the second shelf. Lucy followed her.  
  
"Which one, Lucy?"  
  
Lucy pointed to the first jar on the left, "The green one, the one labeled "Nyctalus noctula- powdered teeth", we weren't suppose to use the long- eared brown bat teeth, were we?"  
  
"No," Hermione shook her head, her mouth drawn tight in anger, "No you weren't, you were supposed to use Noctule bat teeth, which is what the label says that is."  
  
Lucy's eyebrow shot up, "What the label says it is? You mean the label is wrong?"  
  
"Veritas resero!" With a flick of Hermione's wand the lettering faded from the jar, and in its place appeared the label "Dendroaspis polylepis- powdered fangs". The grey jar next to it now held the label "Nyctalus noctula- powdered teeth".  
  
Lucy's keen ears didn't fail to hear the snicker behind her, and she whirled on her heel to see Draco Malfoy and his cronies snickering to each other and trying not to look like they were watching her over their cauldrons.  
  
She clenched and unclenched her fists. "Snake teeth. I put Black Mamba fangs in the potion. Well, that would sure as hell screw it up."  
  
Hermione have her a look, "Don't try anything Lucy, Snape will fry you for sure. Come on, we still have time to fix this."  
  
Using the rest of the class time, and under Hermione's expert guidance, Lucy was able to precipitate and extract the Black Mamba fangs, add the bat teeth, and accelerate the simmering time to give her a decent potion by the time Snape returned and demanded them. But not enough time had passed to make her forget Draco Malfoy and his nasty trick.  
  
And she still had her Black Mamba fang extract.  
  
Snape was now at the front of the room with a very large cat and a dropper. He moved from cauldron to cauldron, placing a drop on the cat's skin to see if it removed the fur.  
  
It was safe to say that no one was watching as Lucy lifted the gooey blob of wet powdered mamba teeth and floated it across the room, letting it slide down the back of Draco's robes.  
  
Black Mamba powder was always handled with gloves because it was notoriously itchy. Lucy, however, was also allergic to most bat teeth, so she never used her hands to handle the powder anyway. It was most likely Draco's plan to make her itch as well as ruin her assignment.  
  
It didn't take long for the show to start.  
  
Lucy hadn't expected the boils, but they were a definite plus.  
  
Unfortunately, just as Draco was beginning to attract some attention, Snape was testing Lucy's potion. He also happened to see the light orange stain on the bench where the glob had been.  
  
Snape had been a potions professor for a long time, and he knew what an allergic reaction to snake teeth looked like. He also knew that Black Mamba fangs were available to the students, and formed an orange precipitate.  
  
She never had a chance.  
  
Her plans of taking a sample reading that night went cheerfully to hell as she found herself once again in detention, to be overseen by Snape personally. She barely had time to grab a bite of dinner and tell Bet that she would have to have her one on one practice with Lynx that night before she was dashing back down to the dungeons to meet her sentence.  
  
She could say she'd had worse, but none of Snape's assignments were ever really "better" than the other. This one was long, very long.  
  
She'd been assigned the first year's classroom, which was always more of a mess than any of the others because they were inexperienced, nervous, and sloppy. Very sloppy.  
  
She had to clean the whole place, top to bottom. Then she had to go through the first year student supply cupboard, and refill, restock, and restore the entire cabinet until it was spotless. It was going to take a week, which was exactly what Snape and McGonagall had sentenced her to.  
  
"If I had wanted a life of slave labor I would have gone to the god damn camels," she grumbled to herself as she stood on top of the tables, trying to get the dust out of a ceiling corner with a long fuzzy pole. Her wand had been confiscated for the duration of her detention that evening, this was to be a strictly no-magic chore.  
  
However, there were some things Snape couldn't stop her from doing, and while she was making a good show of cleaning one corner, another rag was scrubbing out the others. When the ceiling was finished she began work on the walls, the more obvious and dried-on stains first before a thorough going over of the entire place.  
  
So it was completely natural and in no way suspicious that she came to be cleaning right behind Snape's desk. It wasn't his major desk anyway, that was in with his private stores in another part of the dungeon, but he did keep papers in it, and he had been working there just before she came in. It would have taken a saint not to look.  
  
Lucy was many things, none of them remotely saint-like.  
  
She skimmed through a stack of un-graded assignments, some of them abysmal, a brief note from McGonagall reminding him that the weekly staff meeting had been moved from the 4th to the 5th, and would be at seven in the headmaster's office, a pile of outside correspondence, an unsigned request for more dried dung beetles- Lucy looked back at the pile of correspondence, keeping a wary eye on the door.  
  
The letters, sadly, were all unopened, but Lucy leafed through them anyway, there were several that had plain, handwritten addresses, although what person would want to write to Snape was beyond Lucy's comprehension, another from a wholesale dried magical goods provider, and one that had no return address, and was simply sealed with wax on the back with a coat of arms Lucy didn't recognize. She was tempted to try and have a peak-  
  
When she heard an unmistakable brisk clip coming down the hall not very far away. She looked at the papers spread out on the desk and knew that there was now way to hide the fact that she'd been going through all of that before he arrived.  
  
With a breath to collect herself, she focused, raised a hand palm out, blew all the papers off of the desk, and immediately got down on her hands and knees to start picking them up.  
  
Snape came through the doorway half a second later.  
  
"What is this?" He glared down at Lucy like an insect that needed to be squashed.  
  
"I knocked the desk when I was cleaning, Professor, all this blew onto the floor." She offered him the letters, which she had shoved together into a little pile.  
  
Snape snatched them and leafed through, to make sure nothing was missing, Lucy was sure.  
  
"Get the rest of that back on the desk as you found it. You're finished tonight, be back the same time tomorrow."  
  
With the stack in his hand he strode from the room, dropping Lucy's wand on the desk near the door on his way out.  
  
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It took Lucy about fifteen minutes to realize that by leaving the classroom irritated and not concentrating on where she was going she had become very lost in the little-used areas of the dungeons. She tried retracing her steps, only to find her beside an absolutely unfamiliar statue of what she could only assume was an animal with the tail of a dragon, the head of a bat, and the body of a hippopotamus.  
  
"Oh for the love of Light!" She was about to call Faustas to guide her out when she heard something.  
  
They were voices, but the sound was deadened, as if it was coming from behind a very thick wall.  
  
Well that would put them just about anywhere in the dungeons, Lucy thought grimly, and even if they could hear or find her, they would probably be Slytherins, and very suspicious of a Gryffindor who was clearly not where she belonged.  
  
That was when she heard the sounds of footsteps, coming from the corridor she had just turned out of. She quickly backtracked, turned,  
  
And ran dead into Bethany Tsepish.  
  
"Bet!"  
  
"Lucy? What in Merlin's name are you doing down here at this hour?"  
  
The dark haired girl was clearly as surprised to see Lucy as Lucy was to see her, and she struggled for balance, and to hold on to the three bottles she was carrying.  
  
Lucy automatically reached out to grab one before it fell, then raised her eyebrow at the label.  
  
"You surprise me Bet, I never took you for a moonshiner."  
  
Bet looked confused, then shook her head emphatically.  
  
"Trust me, that is neither made by me nor is it intended for consumption by me."  
  
"Then what is it?"  
  
She visibly squirmed. The trouble was, that Lucy had seen enough of Bet to know when she was lying, so she told the truth.  
  
"Libations."  
  
"Libations?"  
  
Feeling extremely awkward, Bet took back the bottle from Lucy's hand, "Yes, its part of my job to provide the drinks. Usually its non-alchoholic, but there's a birthday tonight."  
  
Lucy nodded, "And its hard to place your bets correctly and keep an eye on your money when you've had too much, er, libations, isn't it."  
  
Bet nodded, then stopped and stared, wide-eyed. "How did you know about the Ring?"  
  
Lucy shrugged, "The old fashioned way, I was eavesdropping, the Russians were nervous about missing on Halloween."  
  
Bet nodded, her face quickly recovering its usual state of cool, calm, and collectedness.  
  
"How long have you been doing this?"  
  
She shrugged, "Since third year, I guess. I mean, first and second there were games a couple times a year, but they were pitiful, no organization, no security. I've sort of cleaned it all up, got it running like a tight ship."  
  
Lucy nodded, "You wouldn't have been the first person I would imagine goes in for that sort of thing. Why do you do it?"  
  
Bet sighed, "There are a lot of old wizarding families, Lucy, and not all of them are drowning in Galleons. There's probably an equal amount of Weasley-like and Malfoy-like households, but there's also quite a few who have, well, fallen out of favor. Tsepish's have always had a good family name; we had a Count in the family once, somewhere in Romania, where we came from. But lately, with the Ministry raids, the confiscations, and lots of members no longer really functional parts of society, the fortune, well, dried up I guess you would have to say."  
  
Bet gave her a rueful smile and shrugged. "We just never let that be generally known. We keep the real estate and the heirlooms, hanging on to them with tooth and toenail, and I've made enough money to pay for my tuition since the fourth year, plus I've paid back Uncle Geoffrey for the loans he gave my parents to cover tuition and materials for third and second year."  
  
"And your parents don't mind?"  
  
Bet shook her head, her long French braid bounced across her back. "I actually think they were rather proud of it. The ridiculously wealthy and the royal have always excelled at gambling. And setting up my own venue showed what mother called real entrepreneurship, an excellent understanding of supply and demand. Plus, by taking the physical risk of setting up the game and circulating the word, bringing in players, I no longer take any financial risk by playing, and take a percentage off the top of each pot. It's very profitable, since the house usually wins."  
  
Lucy's brain was starting to tell her an incredibly impossible idea. "So, I assume, it's Slytherin only."  
  
Bet rolled her eyes, "But of course, you think they would trust anyone else? Although..."  
  
Lucy pounced, "What?"  
  
"Towards the end of the year the regulars become rather pressed for cash, and that's when it getting good, the last game of the term is when you really clean up, because so many have already left, and their money is still in there. Last year we finally let non-Slytherin family into the game after a very rigorous screening process. That was also when we had to find an alternate entrance, since leading outsiders through the common room was never going to get approved."  
  
Lucy nodded, "Of course...."  
  
Bet gave her a narrow stare, "What are you plotting Lucy? Whatever it is, it can't happen, you aren't even supposed to know about this place!"  
  
Lucy reached up and gave the taller girl a pat on the cheek, "Never you fear, I'll tell you when its good and thought out."  
  
There was no point in arguing with that.  
  
"So, what ARE you doing down here?"  
  
"Detention, then I got lost."  
  
Bet chuckled, "Only you, come on, I've got to get you out and get back before I get caught with all this."  
  
"I appreciate it."  
  
"I appreciate you no telling anyone."  
  
"Bet, I've known since Halloween, I could have told dozens of people."  
  
"But you didn't."  
  
"No, didn't seem right."  
  
"I think that's what made us friends so fast, Lucy, we understand each other."  
  
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It wasn't until the weekend that she managed to get time enough to take the sample Faustas had wanted. The grounds were mostly deserted since the wind had picked up and the temperature hadn't risen much, so there was no fear of an audience as Lucy and Bet made their way to the cliff side of the castle, the same place the international students had met at the beginning of term.  
  
"Explain to me again..."  
  
Lucy sighed, "Well, I know one of your secrets, so I'm pretty sure I can trust you with one of mine. But I can't tell you everything and half of what I do tell you is probably not quite the truth, but I need your help anyway."  
  
Bet raised an eyebrow, but shrugged and followed Lucy's example when she sat on the ground.  
  
"It's cold!"  
  
"That's why I'm not sitting on it," it took Bet a moment to realize Lucy was hovering half an inch above the ground, just enough that it you looked closely you noticed that the grass was not bent beneath her weight.  
  
"I wish you would teach us that."  
  
"I wish I was good enough to. OK, what I need you to do is a two part deal. The first is that if I start to even look like I might possibly lose my grip, I want you to clamp the tightest shield on me that you can make and call for Lynx or Rasheph. They're physically big enough to snap me out of it. Put enough power behind it and you should make one of them irritated enough to find us."  
  
"Why didn't you bring them?"  
  
"Rasheph is at Quidditch practice and if Lynx doesn't do decently on his History of Magic test tomorrow he may not pass on to sixth year, I didn't want to bug them if I didn't need to, and you already had a session scheduled."  
  
"What's the other part?"  
  
"If I look like I'm going a little greyish, but am still in control, I want you to open an energy channel, you remember how right? Good, you were always good at those. I may take a little while, but the second you start to fade, if you do, I want you to stop. This is kind of important, but definitely not worth you getting a headache from."  
  
Bet shifted so she was sitting back on her heels. "So what exactly are we doing?"  
  
Lucy shrugged, "It's my job."  
  
"Your job is to sit around outside in the freezing cold?"  
  
"No. See, after you pass your Master's trials you become a member of that Guild. You also owe them several years of service. I got off pretty light really. I just do this."  
  
"And what is 'this'?"  
  
"Its kind of like empathy, kind of like thought-sensing, kind of like far sight all in one, except that instead of involving another person, your looking at the earth."  
  
"Clear as mud," muttered Bet, but Lucy was starting her breathing exercises and didn't hear her.  
  
"Here goes nothing," Lucy thought as she extended an energy link to Bet, then focused out and DOWN.  
  
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"Is she okay?"  
  
"I don't know, I mean, does she LOOK okay?"  
  
"She hasn't said a word?"  
  
"Not one."  
  
"She's definitely breathing, and conscious, at least, I THINK she's conscious."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"I told you, one minute it was all fine, I was a little tired, was actually going to pull out after a few more minutes, and then...."  
  
"When did she throw up?"  
  
"Oh, she did that right away, told me it was all right, perfectly normal."  
  
"I pray none of us develops this, it must be messy to train."  
  
"So, anyway, all of a sudden I feel my line snap, and she's broken the connection. And she's standing there, just STARING at the ground, and then she walks off, fast, toward the castle."  
  
"She came right here?"  
  
"She was in the bathroom first, I think she might have been sick, and she washed her hands."  
  
"So?"  
  
"For twenty minutes, she was still scrubbing when I came back in. When I asked her if anything was wrong she looked down at the sink, then turned off the tap and dried them. Came in here, said she needed to think. That was four hours ago. I brought her some food, but, well..."  
  
Bet waved her hand, indicating that plate of untouched chicken and vegetables that was on the table, Lucy was still seated on the floor near the fire.  
  
Rasheph went to try and shake her out of it.  
  
"She's freezing."  
  
"I know, and she's been close enough to the fire that she ought to be flushed, but she-"  
  
At that point Lucy stood up and stretched, giving a little jump when she turned around and saw the others staring at her.  
  
"Oh, gods, I'm sorry, I was, um, I'm sorry Bet I didn't mean to make you worry."  
  
"What happened Lucy?"  
  
Lucy's already pale face went white, "I didn't hurt anyone, did I? I mean, did I-"  
  
"No," Lynx said firmly, "You didn't lose any control."  
  
Lucy grinned, "Cool. Yeah me. Um, I just saw- felt- connected to something that I didn't think could really exist. It was kind of confusing."  
  
Rasheph took a piece of bread off Lucy's plate and handed the rest to her, "You wanna talk about it?"  
  
Lucy shook her head. "Not now. I'm really cold, and I wanna go to sleep. You ought to too Bet. Besides, if I have questions in the morning I know who to pump for answers."  
  
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	17. Chapter Seventeen: Livin' On the Edge

Chapter Seventeen: Livin' On the Edge  
  
There were still questions in the morning. But Hermione was nowhere to be found. She was up and out of the room before breakfast on a Sunday morning and they didn't have an exam coming for weeks. Something was up with her, but then, there was always something up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. But whatever was brewing had never gotten her out of bed at the crack of dawn before.  
  
Lucy didn't bother to go looking for her, being in no rush to re-connect with whatever she had touched the day before. There was something very wrong about it, and she wasn't sure if she would like what she found when she went about trying to discover how something like that had found its way to Hogwarts. And stayed around too. That was part of what was so troubling, whatever it had been, not only had it been terribly unnatural, but it had hung around for months and months.  
  
She tried to work on other things, to take her mind off of it, but it was fruitless. There was also no one else around for her to talk to since the boys were off at Quidditch practice and Lavender and Parvati had been out at an illicit Ravenclaw party in the Astronomy Tower the night before, and had slipped off their dates' broomsticks and through the window at around dawn. They would sleep till dinner if previous parties were any indication.  
  
After locking herself away in Asriel's workroom to attempt an outline of what she hoped to achieve in her next thesis, she was nearly focused when she felt a tingle in the back of her mind. It was Diego, their signal that a long conversation was ahead that would be less energy draining if she tranced down to receive it. She smoothed out the ripples in her mind and made herself comfortable on a bench near the floor.  
  
**What is it?**  
  
**I did it.**  
  
**Did what?**  
  
**Well, I think I did it.**  
  
**Diego Alvarez if you don't explain yourself in the next ten seconds I'm going to block you out.**  
  
**Oh you could never do that, burro, now be patient and I'll explain.**  
  
**When have you ever known me to be patient?**  
  
**Good point, listen. Remember we had to find a way to link in the void without pulling energy from the environment?**  
  
**Yes...**  
  
**I figured it out.**  
  
**Well....!**  
  
**If we use personal reserves, it won't interfere with the flux.**  
  
**Diego, if you tried that you'd tap yourself out before you ever got to them.**  
  
**Not if I was linked to you, which I pretty much always am, and you were pulling from the ground.**  
  
Lucy paused, it SOUNDED plausible.  
  
**There's something wrong in there somewhere, just give me a second to figure out what it is.**  
  
**It'll work, even Zhara thinks so. Ask Faustas.**  
  
**I can't, he went back to Machu Pichu.**  
  
**What for?**  
  
**He is not accountable to me, as he frequently reminds me, he outranks me on several celestial levels.**  
  
**We need to test this Lucy.**  
  
Her heart stopped. They had always known they were going to do this, no one else would dare, but the thought of it made her mouth go dry.  
  
**You have the locating part worked out?**  
  
**Yup. I'm gonna try to get a fix empathetically, its my strongest chance. I can build from that. You can punch a gate in there and hold it?**  
  
**Yeah, at least in theory, I haven't actually tested it.**  
  
**Well, we will find out then, won't we?**  
  
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In the early weeks of March, most Hogwarts students were trudging through classes, cursing the winter, which still hung onto the land with icy fingertips, and waiting for the Easter holidays, which couldn't get there soon enough.  
  
For the international students of Hogwarts, March was crunch time. It was their final few weeks to try and make sure that after they were sent to London, they had a good chance of coming back. Not only that, but for the rest of the students, the ones who weren't being charged, there was still the matter of raising enough money to get tuition and supplies for next year, and the years after that.  
  
But on what to everyone else must have seemed an ordinary March afternoon, the events of Hogwarts didn't affect Lucy at all. She woke up early, climbed out the window, and sat on the roof of Gryffindor tower, staring out at the sky. When Hermione's yelling brought her back to earth, she had no idea how long she had been up there.  
  
"What on earth were you doing?"  
  
Lucy shrugged and followed her down to breakfast.  
  
She didn't remember what she ate, or if she ate at all. When everyone else got up, so did she, and she followed them back to tower, and then to Herbology. She managed to extract the sleep-inducing sap from her tray of Nocturnal Nettles without any mistakes, but she hardly looked up from the task or really heard Hermione asking her for the eleventh time that morning if she was all right. Lunch proceeded in a similar manner. She was finally free in the later afternoon. Advanced Astronomy was meeting after sunset the next day for a rare comet sighting, so she was finished with classes early, as planned.  
  
She had a little time, so she waited, sitting on the edge of the cliff overlooking the lake, and thought how very different life had seemed at this time last year. Everything had been different. She hadn't known people were capable of such inhumanity, or such incredible resilience. She would never have guessed that Hogwarts would yield up a group like the BA; or that the four houses would ever come together in cooperation as they had among the mutually abused international faction, how students that were little more than strangers would come together to form such a family.  
  
And she would never have imagined how the loss of her own could be so keenly, so constantly painful, even after finding Diego, even after all this time.  
  
The tears that threatened to spill over finally did when she felt the familiar weight of a rough, worn hand on her shoulder. Without a word she turned and buried her face in Diego's white shirt.  
  
"Hey, come on now, I thought you said you were done with all that?"  
  
She sniffed, "I lied."  
  
He stroked her hair and pulled back. "Come on Montero, it won't be long now. The sooner we test this the sooner we bring them home."  
  
She had to say it, to blurt out what had been eating away at her all afternoon.  
  
"What if you don't come back out? What if you get lost?"  
  
Diego ran a hand through his hair. "You think I haven't thought of it? Luce, you're the best anchor in the world, I told you that you could always find me, well that goes both ways. Unexplored parallel vortex dimension be damned, you're ugly orange aura is too darn loud to ignore."  
  
Lucy drew her hand over her eyes, wiping the last of her tears, "It's red orange you idiot."  
  
"It's still loud and crackly and obnoxious. It would be harder to spot Las Vegas at night."  
  
"But-"  
  
"If I didn't know you better, I'd say you were stalling. Not up to your end of the job, Montero?"  
  
Lucy set her jaw. "Fine, let's get to work."  
  
They calmed and centered in unison, on the shore of the lake. Then Lucy planted her feet in the sand, and shrugged off her black school robes, revealing her white Espiritu uniform underneath. Diego grinned, and tossed the black robe onto a rock.  
  
"Well, what are you waiting for, go on!"  
  
Lucy hadn't heard him, she was focusing very hard on doing what was completely unnatural, gating into nowhere. She carefully pulled energy up out of the earth, surprised at how the strangeness of the energy under Hogwarts wasn't making her want to retch, and carefully crafted the frame of her gate. One strand, then another, then another, until there was a solid glowing, pulsing frame of energy outlining where the gate would be. However, because this was a gate into the void, she could not ground it in the earth, it would not open, so she had to ground it in herself, which tickled and made it difficult to concentrate on the next part. She closed her eyes, feeling the edge of the gate, and pushing the far edge into the void, but not so far that it went past it into a physical place. To do that she had to keep her mind absolutely blank, she had to shield against her own thoughts. It took precious moments, but when she had it she didn't hesitate, she pushed...  
  
"Wow," she heard from behind her. She refused to open her eyes until she had stabilized the endpoint. It wasn't really stable, she's have to "hold" it there the whole time, but since she wasn't planning on walking through this gate, that wasn't a problem.  
  
"Well, go on!"  
  
She felt Diego squeeze her hand, and then he was in front of her, a look of stoic determination on his face. But when he reached the threshold he looked back and gave her a grin.  
  
"I think I'll take a look around."  
  
"Just a look, you better be back real soon or I'm coming in after you!"  
  
With a wink, he stepped, and was gone.  
  
She wasn't sure how long she waited, she remember feeling a tightness in her chest, the only thing reminding her she had been holding her breath since he vanished. She inhaled, and waited.  
  
Something was wrong, it should have taken him only a few moments to be able to "see" the pocket, and that's all he was supposed to do. While still grounding with her right hand, she reached over with her left and fingered the beads around her wrist.  
  
And heard him. **Lucy....Lucy!**  
  
**What's going on!**  
  
**Ow, it hurts, I can't find it....**  
  
**Then just come back** there was a rising panic in her chest.  
  
**I can't find the way out, I can't see the gate.**  
  
There was no telling where he had moved in there, he could be on the other side of the universe.  
  
She took a deep breath. **Just look for me then.**  
  
**What? Luce-**  
  
Before he had finished she had approached the gate, switched grounding to her left hand, and reached her right arm out, into the void.  
  
**See me? Find me!**  
  
He was right, it hurt. The edges of the void were hot, extremely hot, and Lucy's arm felt like she had stuck it straight into a fire. But she held it there waiting, waiting...  
  
Until something grabbed it. Then she pulled, with all of her might she pulled, and fell back onto the grass, with Diego falling out on top of her.  
  
And the gate SCREAMED. Lucy looked up at it with wide eyes, and saw it doing something it never should do; move. Gates glowed, yes, they pulsed, fine, but the last thing a gate was supposed to do was move. Lucy wasn't sure how to fix it, she didn't know how, so she acted on impulse, and simply cut it off.  
  
It was a mistake, and she knew that before she had finished. If gate energy was no dissipated along the proper channels, it always surged back into the grounding point. This could wreak havoc on delicate energy lines and energy pools in the area. But that didn't happen in this case, because the gate wasn't grounded in the land.  
  
It was grounded in Lucy.  
  
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She reluctantly returned to conciousness because something was nibbling her fingers, and because something else was lapping at her ankles.  
  
Upon opening her eyes, she saw Faustas, perched near her left arm, nimbly pecking at her fingers. Beyond Faustas, the lake was lapping at her ankles and legs, thunderheads were forming above, a storm was coming in, and a big one ate that. The wind was causing the waves on the lake, one of which must have pushed water up near her waste, if her sodden uniform was any indication.  
  
**¿Que estaban haciendo Lucy?**  
  
That hurt. The sound of Faustas's voice tore through her head like a ball of razor blades.  
  
"Ow! Stop that!"  
  
**Stop what? I certainly will not stop, not when whatever you have been doing nearly struck me down with a migraine, hauled me halfway across the world in worry, has called up what looks to be the mother of all thunderstorms, and has left Diego like this. So I ask you again, what have you been doing Lucy!**  
  
She didn't answer him, she couldn't sit up, but she looked to her right arm, drawn across her body, to where Diego lay to her left, on his back, his right arm extended and still gripping hers. He wasn't awake, his face was grey...  
  
**He breathes, I checked, but he is in a very serious condition chica. He needs help, and he needs it immediatly. But no one will be able to help him unless I can tell them what happened.**  
  
Lucy tried to block the pain Faustas's voice caused. "He went into the Void. He couldn't find his way back, so I put my arm through and pulled him out."  
  
**Well, that explains the burns. I'll talk to you about this decision later, but right now we need to get him out of here. Can you build a gate?**  
  
"I couldn't build a sandcastle, and at any rate, it wouldn't work, you can't gate out of Hogwarts."  
  
**But, you just...**  
  
"I just built a gate into the Void, technically that isn't out of Hogwarts, its the exact same place in a hole in space-time. Hogwarts was not designed to prevent people from going into a place it did not know existed."  
  
"Clever discovery, chica. So, how did he get here?"  
  
"He probably gated in from outside the barrier. But its too far to walk there, especially now."  
  
**Well, you are going to have to Lucy, he needs medicine I can't give.**  
  
As if an answer to a prayer, Lucy felt the weight of her amulet around her neck. Using her left hand, she pulled it out and off her neck.  
  
"This will get you to Espiritu. Anyone you need can come to you there and bring him wherever he needs to go."  
  
Faustas looked at the amulet carefully, **I had forgotten all about that. Come then, help me with him.**  
  
The first thing Lucy had to do, after sitting up, was to free her right hand. It was then that she realized what Faustas had meant about the burns. Her arm and Diego's were burnt up to the elbow. The skin was still hot to the touch, and she nearly passed out when she had to pull her hand from his grasp.  
  
"Ow..."  
  
**The amulet Lucy, hurry.**  
  
She used her left hand as much as possible. She found the catch on the back, flipped it, and realized very quickly she could not reset the endpoint, trying made her see red and long to pass out.  
  
"You'll just have to end up where I landed last, I think it was on one of the roofs."  
  
Faustas was peering at her very carefully.  
  
**You grounded a gate in yourself, didn't you.**  
  
"It was the only way."  
  
**It was a foolish thing to just drop it all the same. You burnt all your channels clear through when that energy snapped back in you. You won't be able to so much as float a pencil without pain for at least a week.**  
  
"It was the only way."  
  
**I should take you with me.**  
  
"You know I have to stay here."  
  
He sounded old, looked old when she heard him sigh. **I know. Promise me that you will go right to bed, that you will sleep as much as you can? Without the ability to shield the little gods only know what you might be picking up. Sleep might be the only way to shut it all out.**  
  
Lucy nodded, "I promise."  
  
**All right. I will be back as soon as I can.**  
  
"Make sure he's ok."  
  
**I'll guard him with my life chica.**  
  
Lucy sighed, and after flipping the final clasp, making sure Faustas was perched on Diego's left arm, she pressed the amulet, face down, into his palm.  
  
In a moment they flickered and were gone, and Lucy was alone on the beach, the amulet fallen into the sand.  
  
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She was just about to try and carry herself as far as the hospital wing when-  
  
"Oy! Lucy!"  
  
She looked around and saw no one.  
  
"Oy! Up here!"  
  
Lynx Brimstead was charging toward her on his broom. As sharp crack of lightening ripped across the sky behind him, and the clap of thunder pitched him into a dive. Her eyes opened wide in alarm, at that angle it was certain the cheerful boy was going to cheerfully crash, but not three feet from her pulled up, and landed on his feet with a gentle plop.  
  
"What are you doing here?" It came in unison.  
  
Lynx chuckled. "Have you seen the sky? They don't mind having us practice in the rain, but those metal posts are pretty good lightening rods, so we thought we would pack practice in early all the same. I had to go find Constance."  
  
"Who's Constance?"  
  
"A new player, real jittery fourth year, one of the back-up seekers. We have to have more than one back-up because ours tend to take a pounding during games. Anyway, Constance has great eyes, and she's really fast, but she's scared to death of bludgers. One got knocked her way during the scrimmage and she took off, way off. I found her behind a tree over there, and had just sent her home when I saw you. Laying in the sand and water. Care to explain?"  
  
"A spell that didn't exactly work right. Remember where I always told you to ground?"  
  
"Yes..."  
  
"I will later explain exactly why that is very, very important."  
  
Lynx looked her over again.  
  
"Are you ok Lucy?"  
  
"I'll be fine. But, and I can't believe I'm the one saying this, I think I ought to go see Madam Pomfrey about the arm, I don't want it to get infected."  
  
"Well then, my lady, my noble steed and I would be only too proud to escort you," with a gallant flourish Lynx bowed and waved an arm toward his broom.  
  
"And they say chivalry is dead." Lucy played along, trying to get to her feet. Lynx helped her up and onto the back of the broom. When they were both seated and Lucy was hanging on for dear life, he kicked off and flew around the castle in the direction of the hospital wing.  
  
Fortunately for them, the school nurse was in the other room, giving Lucy the chance to hop in through the window, out through the door, and then to knock and enter like any normal student.  
  
She thought the good woman's eyes would bug out when she saw Lucy coming in of her own volition.  
  
Lucy just sighed, held out her aching arm, and waited for the torture to begin.  
  
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She knew she was in trouble from the moment she woke up. She was groggy, but at least her arm was healed, and Madam Pomfrey had been able to catch it early enough that there wasn't any scarring. But her arm wasn't the problem. The fact that her channels were burned meant not only that she couldn't try to hover, or move things, it also meant that she couldn't block anything. There was a constant headache because hearing thoughts did require the use of a fried channel, but when Lucy tried to put back up the shield that was always there, she couldn't stand to hold it for more than a few seconds. It meant that she could hear whatever people were projecting, everyone, all at once. None of it made sense, and it never stopped.  
  
Care of Magical Creatures was her first class, and after the nightmare that was breakfast Lucy wasn't sure how she was going to handle it.  
  
Then she saw Bet.  
  
After Hagrid had demonstrated the proper technique for safely obtaining silk from spider fish, the class was split up among several tanks full of the rather ugly, potato-sized creatures. Lucy volunteered to get a couple of seives for skimming the silk off the water while the rest of the group at her tank started using their wands to create "shocks" in the water, which spooked the fish and caused them to release clouds of silk.  
  
As she gathered several together at the equipment box, Lucy managed to maneuver herself next to Bet, putting a hand on her arm.  
  
"Lucy, is something wrong?" Bet whispered.  
  
Lucy nodded, "I'll tell you at the meeting this afternoon, but I need you to do me a favor right now."  
  
"Sure, what is it?"  
  
"Can you put a shield on me, from now until the end of class?"  
  
"What on earth do you need that for?"  
  
Lucy's group was starting to look for her, the water in the tank was bubbling fiercely and it looked like Dean really enjoyed torturing the fish.  
  
"Long story, but I don't have anything right now, which means I'm hearing everyone. You know how that feels."  
  
Bet nodded, and instantly Lucy was practically deafened by the silence in her head.  
  
"Oh gods, thank you."  
  
"I'll keep it up as long as I can."  
  
"You're an angel. I'd better go."  
  
Bet nodded and the girls went back to their respective groups.  
  
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"You realize you're the only people at Hogwarts who know the whole story," Lucy said with a sigh.  
  
"But, why?"  
  
"Because I made a promise, a promise to a very good, very important, and very powerful woman that I would do what they said. They feel the best way to protect the people of the Western Circle from You-Know-Who and his followers is to let no one they come in contact with know very much about us. We don't know how much he knows, but by purposefully giving out false information, they hope they'll confuse him, make him doubt what he knows."  
  
"But, when you and your friend were attacked, it was someone who was there, someone from your Circle, wasn't it?"  
  
Lucy shrugged, "Abraham told me that they found whomever it was, but they didn't tell me who, only that they had been watching him for quite some time. I think what happened at Christmas made them realize that they needed to take action, so they did. If we kept reacting, there might be no one left to protect."  
  
"So why let us in?"  
  
"Because you trusted me first, it can't be easy coming forward with a gift like yours in a place like this. And because we're sort of our own little circle, in a way, we shouldn't have big secrets like this."  
  
Rasheph smiled, "So are you going to tell us what made you pass out a couple weeks ago?"  
  
"I was hoping I wouldn't have to think about it," Lucy groaned and leaned back in the armchair. "The Masters Guild requires a few years of service right after you pass your Mastery trials. My job was supposed to be simple, it was a rather obscure task that had always been given to an Espiritu student because our school was the only one left that even recognized the channel for the skill. However, once the schools began being attacked, without any human witnesses, all of a sudden I was in popular demand. It works kind of like Bet's though sensing, but I listen to the earth; it absorbs everything, all the time. Now, most stuff just fades after a few months, but significant deviations from the norm, traumas, can still be felt decades, even centuries later. You see, hear, and feel what is happening, it's like re-living the event. Now, if something isn't a concrete event, but happens over a long period of time, you don't see it so much as you feel it, and get a sense for it. When I took a reading at the request of the Circle, I was looking for something similar to what is causing a disturbance at some of the smaller schools. What I connected with was so... unnatural, it made me pass out. I felt dirty, cold, sad, and empty. Whatever caused this was a being of some sort, it was not environmental, it arrived over three years ago and stayed around for about eight months."  
  
The other three BA members looked at each other, puzzled.  
  
"Well, you know who was hanging around here three years ago, for no one knows how long, don't you?" Lynx said, leaning forward in his chair.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Sirius Black, the murderer, ever heard of him? He was the one who turned the Potters over to You-Know-Who, and then he blew up a whole street full of Muggles before they arrested him. Three years ago was when he escaped from Azkaban. He came after Harry, even got right into his bedroom, so I heard, before he was caught, and then escaped. I bet touching the traces of him would make me feel dirty too."  
  
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Lucy let what Lynx had said sink in over the next week, but despite her personal dislike of Sirius, she'd been around him before and had never felt the slightest sensation similar to what she had felt that afternoon on the Hogwarts grounds with Bet.  
  
Fortunately, after the meeting with the BA, they were able to work out a schedule, which minimized the times that Lucy had to be completely without shields. A great deal of her studying was done in the library, with a BA member a few tables away. It was only in the tower that she was exposed. She had not told Seamus what she had done or what had happened, and did not plan to.  
  
That part of the plan hurt, but it was necessary. Seamus had never wanted to be a part of the BA, had never wanted to be a part of the community. Even now, aside from keeping his shielding strong and his gift under control, he didn't really care to explore his abilities any further. It was telling that all the other students had developed secondary gifts, and would likely continue to find others, but Seamus hadn't changed at all. Lucy also supposed it was because his channel had been opened so unnaturally. In any case, Seamus was as far removed from the Western Circle as a person with a gift could get, he didn't need to know what they were doing. The BA, on the other hand, might be more involved in Lucy's world someday, and needed to know about it. Not to mention that Lucy wasn't sure she could keep lying to everyone if she knew Seaumus knew how much she was lying, and how often.  
  
Faustas returned four days after the gating attempt, with the reassurance that Diego would be fine in a few weeks, and bringing a blissful end to Lucy's periods of unshielded mental chaos when away from the BA. He also brought back a bracelet; a thin silver chain with a small sphere of what looked like rose quartz, a common focusing stone, dangling in the middle.  
  
**From Abraham and Sofia, for your trip to London. It's like a panic button, if something goes wrong you activate that the same way you do a mirror and you can get one or both of them directly, they have receivers cut from the same stone as the one on the bracelet.**  
  
"They really don't trust these people, do they?"  
  
**They have no reason to chica. You are to where that at all times until you get back to school, understood?**  
  
Lucy nodded. She then reported to Faustas what Lynx had said about Sirius Black and the disturbance she had felt.  
  
**I don't think just one man could have created the problem they have in Siberia. Better keep looking, but discretely.**  
  
"Of course."  
  
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Time was coming up short for the international students. With only ten days until the beginning of Easter holidays and their departure from the relative safety of Hogwarts, Lucy found herself headed towards the Headmaster's office, again. Only this time, she wasn't going for disciplinary reasons.  
  
She stopped at the staircase, checking the note in her pocket for the password of the day that Professor McGonagall had written down.  
  
"Berry lime sublime."  
  
She stepped back as the staicase revealed itself, then stepped on and was taken up to the door, which was partially adjar. She knocked.  
  
"Come in."  
  
Lucy pushed it open the rest of the way and stepped into the room. Dumbledore was standing at the top of the stairs leading to the inner room.  
  
"Miss Montero? What can I do for you?"  
  
Lucy held out the scroll in her hand, "I was wondering if you could sign this, please, sir."  
  
Dumbledore took the scroll and unrolled it, peering at it carefully through his spectacles.  
  
"Could you explain to me what this is? It looks as though a lawyer drafted it."  
  
"It did, well, Warren did actually and he's going to be- well, what it is, its for the international students, sir. We're trying to get a law passed. But before we can even present that to the Ministry, they are requiring that we get signatures, a lot of them."  
  
"Really? What on earth for?"  
  
Lucy shrugged, "They say it prevents superfluous bills from clouding the agenda, whatever that means. Katya thinks it is just a way to try and slow things down. I think she's right. Then they pushed up our deadline, just at the last minute, so we've had to rush. We have to send it off by private owl this evening. That's why I'm here, it was going to be one of the seventh years but they have App. Ed. all afternoon."  
  
"I see, do you have a quill, Lucy?"  
  
"Oh, right, yes, Audrey gave me the one we have to use, anti-forgery quill, apparently they can tell if we didn't use it."  
  
Dumbledore accepted it, "Lets just use the desk for this, hmm?" And lead her back into the inner room.  
  
"You didn't read it, headmaster."  
  
"No, no, why on earth should I?"  
  
"I thought..."  
  
"If you students are trying to pass a law, you should be entitled to have a voice. I should have no right to say whether or not that voice is allowed to be heared."  
  
Lucy didn't know what to say.  
  
"You look rather like a landed fish, Lucy."  
  
"I'm sorry, I guess, its just, most of the other teachers we had to approach acted as if it were their responsibility, Professor Snape wouldn't even sign it. He didn't approve of the way we were going about things."  
  
"Doesn't surprise me one bit."  
  
Lucy jumped at the strange voice, and whirled around to see the man standing near the door, she hadn't seen him when she came in.  
  
Dumbledore smiled. "Ah, Miss Montero, I don't believe you have met our former Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, Professor Remus Lupin. Professor Lupin, Miss Montero, she's from your old house."  
  
"Hello," Lucy stammered.  
  
Professor Lupin smiled at her, "Always a pleasure to meet a Gryffindor, you must be a recent addition Miss Montero, I was around three years ago and I don't remember you."  
  
Lucy's ears perked up. "Three years ago? You were here three years ago, for a whole year?"  
  
Remus nodded, "A rather exciting year at that, of course, those pesky Dementors did make it a little less than pleasant."  
  
"Dementors? Those things from Azkaban, they were at the school?"  
  
"Oh yes, a royal pain, all year, on account of Sirius Black. I'm surprised you hadn't heard of it."  
  
Lucy wasn't sure how to respond, but she didn't have to. Dumbledore handed her the scroll.  
  
"I think that's all you needed, wasn't it Lucy?"  
  
She nodded, "Thank you headmaster." She headed out the door.  
  
"Miss Montero?"  
  
She turned back at the sound of Dumbledore's voice.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"You're pen?" Dumbledore was holding Audrey's anti-forgery pen. Automatically, Lucy used her now-healed channel to pull the pen towards her, but she quickly looked at Lupin and thought the better of it. There was an unnaturalness to the man. The pen appeared to rise out of Dumbledore's grasp and fall to the floor.  
  
Lucy hurried over pick it up.  
  
"I'm sorry Lucy," Dumbledore said with an amused smile, "I must be getting arthritic in my old age."  
  
Lucy flashed him and Remus a nervous smile before quickly exiting the room.  
  
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No sooner had the door closed behind her than.  
  
"All right headmaster, now who was that and what was that all about?"  
  
Dumbledore eased back into his chair. "Calm down Remus and have a seat. That was, as I told you, Lucy Montero, a Gryffindor, and she needed a document signed."  
  
"Since when were the students in this school so politically active. What are they trying to do, abolish the uniform?"  
  
"They're trying to secure their right to fair and equal treatment under the British Ministry, if I read the preamble correctly. That Warren Lane is going to be a wonderful lawyer."  
  
"Fair and equal treatment, equal to who?"  
  
"Equal to the treatment of British students. Lucy was just one of about 65 or so of our international students that have come under the close scrutiny of the Ministry ever since Cornerlius Fudge had it planted in his head that the incident last spring and the attacks since last summer have come from foreign enemies slipping into the country and terrorizing wizards and muggles alike."  
  
"And he thinks STUDENTS are responsible? That is the stupidest think I've ever heard."  
  
"So far he has done very little, but what he has done has been very invasive. They have to carry travel papers, a mountain of passes and registration forms, and then he had an official tailing them last term."  
  
"Tailing them?"  
  
"Following then around, collecting evidence."  
  
"Evidence of what?"  
  
"Of nothing, which was why I let him stay, there was nothing for him to find. None of our students are plotting the downfall of magical society, if they were I'd know about it and no one is up to anything nearly that amusing. Since the Weasley twins left things have become rather dull, actually."  
  
'So, why the law?"  
  
"Well, what they did was let the students get themselves into trouble. Almost half of them violated the new codes by returning to school this term without going through immigration and getting their forms filled out. So the Ministry has decided to make an example of them and is bringing them to London during the Easter holidays to be interrogated before they decide on action."  
  
"Action? They're only children!"  
  
"They are children with very little protection under this system. They're an easy scapegoat, and by putting suspicion on foreigners in general Fudge can cleanly avoid any implication that loyal Death Eaters were not completely weeded out sixteen years ago."  
  
"What can they do to them?"  
  
"Well, they have already dissolved all funding for work-study and scholarships for international students. They could deport them, and if they voted to try them as adults the prospects could be even worse."  
  
"How can they try a juvenile as an adult?"  
  
"If the charge is serious enough, they'll do it. It would have to be very serious though, murder, treason or espionage perhaps as well, but nothing below that, I should think."  
  
"You seem very calm about all this."  
  
"If Fudge tried to pull anything with all the children on that list there would be hell to pay, many of them have very influential parents. Now if it were just a few, and they were like Miss Montero, then I would be worried."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, you can get away with a lot worse on a smaller scale. And Lucy has no family, no place to go really, so there would be little or no repercussions. Her home was the target of one of those massive external efforts we saw the Death Eaters doing last year."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Oh yes, and from what I hear, it killed, or as good as killed, everyone in that school. Its part of the reason why she hate Sirius so much, she'd probably hate you too if she knew you had gathered intelligence."  
  
"I don't understand."  
  
"We knew all of those were coming before they came, but we didn't act because it was more important to keep Severus an active player. If we acted, warned anyone, then they would have known there was a leak, and it would only be a matter of time before they found him out. It was that closed of a matter."  
  
"She found out about that?"  
  
"Hmm, yes, Severus told McGonagall when Lucy's school was being attacked. She realized that the strange sort of link that all the students there have to the school might potentially hurt Lucy, and she managed to cut that before the poor child died of it. But after that she became curious and found the whole thing out. I'm actually not sure as to her attitude toward Sirius, she knows about him, found out accidentally, but I am quite sure she'll hate Severus Snape until the day she dies."  
  
"So she's alone?"  
  
"About as alone as Harry. And she's not the only one in the international student pool to be so. Now, if it were a group of those kind of students, I'd be worried. But I seriously doubt anything will happen to the crowd they're taking to London. They will resent missing their spring holiday, I'm sure." 


	18. Chapter Eighteen: Into the Fire

Chapter Eighteen: Into the Fire  
  
**Does anyone know what really happened?**  
  
**I think a few have their suspicions, but Faustas managed to keep the people who knew the whole thing to an absolute minimum.**  
  
**Why do you think he did that?**  
  
**You know him better than I, Lucy. Perhaps he feared that if anyone in the Guilds knew you two found a way back to each other that they would pull you out of Hogwarts and put you somewhere they could keep an eye on you. You have to admit, disaster has struck the last two times you got together.**  
  
**We weren't responsible for the first.**  
  
**Then there's the fear that you might inspire others to attempt that crazy stunt. And I'm betting if anyone else tried what you did we'd have two graves rather than a fried Master and a broken Advanced Intermediate. I don't know how that bond of yours became established, but it probably saved his life, and yours.**  
  
**Mine was never in danger.**  
  
**Oh? You're standing right now because you were able to take care of yourself afterward. If anything had happened to Diego I'm betting you would have thrown yourself into the Void after him believing you could still find a way back out. Am I wrong?**  
  
**That would have been suicide.**  
  
**You've never been known to keep a clear head when the people you love are in danger, sweetheart. Or was that not you who managed to find a way home, one that was not supposed to exist, last year when Espiritu was attacked?**  
  
**The world may never know. Now, we've danced around this long enough Aislan, how is he?**  
  
During the pause Lucy was quite positive she could hear her own heartbeat.  
  
**He's not conscious, he was for a moment, but he was delirious. He kept calling after you, I'm not sure he's even aware that he is not in the void anymore. But don't worry, Lucy, it was a very good sign that he was out, even if it was only for a moment, it will help his body start to realize where it is. We won't let anything happen to him.**  
  
Lucy swallowed hard. Losing her family had left her empty and cold, but the thought of losing Diego again had left her paralyzed in the long, silent hours before dawn, until she finally got word from the Healing Temple/Training School in Nepal that he was going to be all right. Aislan and Marie, Lucy and Diego's Medicinal friends from Chadwicks, had been moved there from the Sahara just three days before.  
  
**And Marie?**  
  
**Has committed to a surgical focus.**  
  
**Really?** Lucy was surprised, since surgical focus medicinals took longer than almost all other medicinals to complete training, and had to do the most work. In Chadwicks, the two had been known for avoiding work at all costs, and had never paid for it because their natural near-genius intelligence enabled them to sail through exams. It was obvious that their experience in the Congo epidemic had changed their priorities.  
  
**What about you Aislan?**  
  
**Oh, I don't know yet. I might go in for a trauma specialist or pediatrics, but I have some time yet. We have to complete the medicinal trials before we specialize.**  
  
**Any idea when that will be?**  
  
**A year, two at the most, unless they speed us up for some reason.**  
  
**So you'll be split up?**  
  
**We'll have to be. She's going to have to be in Kiyoto for a year at least, and the little gods only know where I'll turn up. Don't relish the idea though.**  
  
**I understand.** She understood all too well.  
  
**Listen, he's going to be FINE! You just concentrate on not getting drawn and quartered or turned into a toad or whatever it is that the Eastern Circle does to people who don't get their forms signed.**  
  
**Thanks for the encouragement.**  
  
**Do they still use the stocks?**  
  
**Goodbye Aislan!**  
  
**Don't lose your head!**  
  
Lucy smiled as the image faded from the thin circle of foil stretched over the round wire frame. As soon as Aislan dropped the connection the foil blackened and crumbled. It was a sort of "this message will self-destruct" for the Western Circle. Lucy was still not allowed to use a mirror.  
  
She chuckled to herself as she swept up the ashes and dropped them in the fire. She tried to keep a light heart as she selected clothes to place in the small trunk Lavender had loaned her for the trip. She refused to let Ron's comment that Lavender better resign herself to never seeing the trunk again weigh upon her mind. The truth was, she was nervous, terribly nervous, and there was no one to talk to about it.  
  
She fingered the small quartz stone on the bracelet Faustas had brought her, sighed, and tried to push worry to the back of her mind. She turned around, saw Seamus in the doorway, and jumped a foot in the air. Her reflexes kicked in and she hung there for a few breaths before slowly sinking to the ground.  
  
"If you had wanted to scare me you could have just pulled a gun."  
  
"Sorry," he said as he eased himself from the doorframe, "I thought you would have known I was there."  
  
Lucy's eyebrow shot up. She had been alone in the room, the girls were all at dinner, she had expected the Tower to be empty when she made the call.  
  
And she hadn't locked the door.  
  
And the look in Seamus' eyes began to make sense.  
  
"How long have you been standing there?"  
  
"Long enough to realize you haven't spoke two words of truth together all term."  
  
"Seamus-"  
  
"You told me that you had been cut off. That you had been blocked from all communication, that you were getting no news and were passing none on to the Circle. You said you had been discharged from the Guild until summer. You PROMISED me that you would tell me before you ever tried another stunt like you pulled last spring. And now... have you told me anything that hasn't been a lie?"  
  
"It's complicated, Seamus."  
  
"You lied to everyone, and you lied to me. I trusted you. I put myself in your hands last year after you-"  
  
"After I what?"."  
  
"I didn't have this problem until you lost control Lucy."  
  
That hurt, mostly because it was true. But Lucy wasn't interested in hearing it.  
  
"If you wanted to start laying blame Seamus it's a little late to start. I have done everything I could to make it up to you-"  
  
"So that's what this has been? You're way of getting rid of the guilt? How am I supposed to know who you are anymore?"  
  
"I am the same person I always have been and I have done exactly what I was supposed to do. But this is who I am, and this is what I have to do now."  
  
"You expect me to just accept that?"  
  
Lucy paused, took a deep breath, and looked him straight in the eye.  
  
"I don't expect you to do anything you are not willing to do."  
  
"And you're just going to keep on deceiving everyone?"  
  
"I will do what I am entrusted to, and whatever it takes to make sure what happened to me never happens again."  
  
"You don't care who you hurt?"  
  
"I'm trying to keep thousands of others from getting hurt. I wouldn't wish that pain on anyone."  
  
"What about us, we're your friends Lucy."  
  
"A friend would understand that I have responsibilities."  
  
"A friend would trust enough to confide."  
  
"Not when they're not my secrets to give."  
  
"I wasn't talking about your Guild secrets," he spat, "I meant you. You're never around, you skulk about the castle, you have bruises on your arms that never seem to fade and bags under your eyes that don't go away either. And you haven't said a word. I can FEEL it when you're upset, or scared, or worried and how do you think it makes me feel when you don't tell me?"  
  
"How do you think it makes me feel that I can't tell you? I wish I could, but I can't. I can't change for you, I can't make you a part of this, and you have to accept that."  
  
"I can't have a friend I know is lying to me."  
  
They hadn't moved. Seamus remained in the doorway, Lucy by the window. The entire distance across the room was still too confining.  
  
"Well," she began slowly, "I wouldn't want you to do anything that was against your ethics."  
  
"Fine then."  
  
"Fine."  
  
Seamus had only taken one step back when the door closed swiftly behind him. Lucy hadn't moved from her spot  
  
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"Try to stay out of trouble."  
  
"And not to talk back."  
  
"And be polite to your host."  
  
"And whatever you do..."  
  
"Don't lose your temper."  
  
They were lecturing her, scolding her, all but threatening her. And they were five years younger. Lucy tried to keep a straight face as she nodded and promised Parker and Marguerite that she would be on her best behavior. It was clear the pair of first years thought she was going to insult the first authority figure she saw on principle.  
  
"And if you do get into trouble, go to the French Embassy, my parents will help you if they can."  
  
She gave them both a quick hug. "I am going to be just fine. You enjoy your holiday and I will see you when I get back."  
  
"Miss Montero!"  
  
Lucy growled and turned around to see McGonagall tapping her foot impatiently near the main door, the rest of the in-violation Gryffindor internationals with her.  
  
She stuck her tongue out at Parker and Marguerite, grabbed her trunk, and hurried to catch up.  
  
"I hope I do not need to remind you what I expect of you all while you are away from this school," the Deputy Headmistress began as they walked to Hogsmeade, regular students were taking the carriages, but McGonagall claimed she wanted to keep an eye on everyone. Lucy thought it was a punishment. Then the Head of Gryffindor House, regardless of the need for it, repeated what she had told them several times before anyway.  
  
When they finally, breathless, reached the station, they were led to the very back of the train. A man in crisp designer suit robes was standing at the door of the last car.  
  
"Bound for the Ministry?"  
  
"Yes," McGonagall replied, "These are the students from Gryffindor House. They are to be staying with the LeFey family."  
  
The man glanced at the parchment in his hand and nodded, "Very good, if you would tell me their names as they step forward and present their forms. I need an ID conformation."  
  
Warren rolled his eyes as Wesley stepped forward with the bright red papers they had been sent earlier in the week. The Ministry wizard signed them, as did McGonagall, and Wesley was permitted to board the train.  
  
When Lucy entered the car she saw that it was larger than the normal cars, although it appeared the same size from the outside. Also, there were no separate compartments. Couches lined both sides and the back, which had no door to connect to the rest of the train, and the middle of the car was filled with couches and armchairs. All of them various shades of purple.  
  
The Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and Slytherins were already there. Apparently the Ministry wasn't going to risk losing anyone by giving them the chance to slip away into a compartment on the Express.  
  
The Gryffindors headed for the couches along the back wall and the arm chairs near them. All the trunks went into a large rack on the ceiling.  
  
"Well," Lucy grumbled as she draped her feet over the side of an armchair, "I guess this means the candy cart won't be coming by."  
  
"How do you like the accommodations?" Audrey Su came over, giving her sister Karen a squeeze on the shoulder and sitting on the arm of the sofa next to Warren.  
  
"Feels like a plush, purple prison," Nicholas looked at the velvet cushions of the sofa with disgust.  
  
"The bars on the windows are a nice touch," Svetlana added.  
  
At that moment the door to the car was shut with a bang. All heads turned to see the Ministry Officials, three of them, and Professor Snape, who would be accompanying them as far as London.  
  
To her left Lucy heard the Ravenclaw Mikhail Fedorov mutter to Aysha. "It's going to be a long trip."  
  
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When they arrived at Kings Cross, the door to Lucy's car did not open. She and several others, including Alessandra, Sasha, Lorenzo, and the twins Kentaro and Koji Tsujimoto kneeled on the couches under the windows, watching sadly as the rest of their friends found their families and walked away into London. It was only when the rest of the Express was empty and the platform clear that they began to prepare the paperwork to de-board.  
  
After Snape had confirmed their ID's and given them a slightly scarier version of McGonagall's speech, involving dungeon detentions until they were very old, the students were led away from the train. Lucy looked back after heaving her trunk on the cart, and Snape was gone.  
  
When they approached the barriers several more Ministry wizards approached them, and they all stopped. The man from the train stepped to the front of the group and surveyed them severely down the length of a long, straight nose that Lucy thought resembled a beak.  
  
"You will go through one at a time, but accompanied by a Ministry official. They will pass you off to an official on the opposite side, and they will guide you to a pre-designated gathering place. You will wait there until the rest of the group is assembled."  
  
Leigh and Gisella rolled their eyes. The Ministry official either didn't see or didn't care, and took Saori through first.  
  
By the time Lucy went through more than half the group was gone. The Ministry official took her by the arm, a little to tightly for her tastes, and walked her through to the Kings Cross main platform, where she was handed off to another Ministry Official, a woman with black hair pulled back in a severe bun. The new woman took her by the arm, just as tightly, and walked her at a fast clip through the station, down some stairs, and through a dark corridor. She unlocked a heavy wooden door and after signing another form admitted Lucy and her paperwork into a large room where the other students were assembled.  
  
It was another fifteen minutes before they were all together. The man from the train appeared again.  
  
"Please arrange yourselves into Houses. You will be taken to your lodgings tonight and the proceedings will begin in the morning. You are not required to wear robes, but this is a formal inquiry, so dress appropriately. My name is Smethyls. That's S. M. E. T. H. Y. L. S. Don't forget the 'Y'. If you have any questions I am your liaison with the Ministry. Now, remember that you are being taken into the homes of distinguished Hogwarts alumni, I hope I do not need to remind you of what is expected of your behavior."  
  
He proceeded to do just that. Mr. Smethyls, like all adults, it seemed, had a distinct lack of confidence in their ability to act like anything besides a pack of wild dogs.  
  
He was just finishing the part on table manners when the door opened and another man in Ministry attire led in a handsome man in his late thirties, a neat, graceful woman in her sixties, and a tall severe man with very blond hair accompanied by a house elf. Lucy had no idea who the first two were, but she recognized Lucius Malfoy instantly.  
  
"Ah, right on time. These are your hosts. Mr. Jeremy Bones will be hosting the Hufflepuff students, Mrs. Lucinda Merriweather will be hosting the Ravenclaws. Mr. Lucius Malfoy will be hosting the Slytherins in his London residence, and..."  
  
For the first time since they had met Mr. Smethyls he lost his icy composure.  
  
"Where is Georgiana? Georgiana LeFey? She's hosting the Gryffindors."  
  
"I'm afraid she can't, Smethyls," Mr. Bones replied. "I got an owl from the LeFey household not twenty minutes ago. She regrets to inform you that she will be unable to lodge to students."  
  
"But-but,I-" the poor man stuttered, "why on earth not?"  
  
"Dragonpox, as I understand it."  
  
"She's far too old to have dragonpox."  
  
"Not Georgiana, Smethyls, her children. Daniel and Elliot."  
  
"Is it serious?"  
  
"No, the doctors assured Georgiana and Dan that the boys would be out of bed in a week or so, just as soon as they were no longer flammable. But they have their hands full. Not to mention the questionable nature of international vaccines..."  
  
"Yes, yes, you're right, of course. But where to put them?"  
  
"Well, there aren't that many Hufflepuffs staying with us, Angie and I thought we had room for about four more. And Lucinda said she could take three so..."  
  
Before she realized what was happening, Warren, Karen, and William made a dive for Mrs. Lucinda Merriweather, and Nicholas, Svetlana, Alessandra, and Wesley took a step towards Mr. Bones. And before she could plead to simply be allowed to sleep on the floor of the Ministry...  
  
"Lucius, do you think you have room for one more?"  
  
Her heart fell into her shoes. Lucius Malfoy gave her a look she thought ought to be reserved for spoilt food, but, nevertheless...  
  
"Oh, I think we can manage."  
  
"Well, it's all settled then," Smethyls gave Lucy a push towards the Slytherins. She barely had time to catch the apologetic look in Warren's eyes before Mr. Malfoy had spun on his heel and was leading them out of the room, followed by a Ministry official.  
  
There were two cars waiting outside King's Cross where Mr. Malfoy led them. They were split between the two, and Lucy breathed a sigh of relief that she managed to get into the car that did NOT carry Draco's father. In the back of her mind she wondered if Draco had decided to go home for the holidays as well.  
  
The Malfoy's "city residence" looked something like a hotel. It was very large, and very pretty, and you were not supposed to touch anything. It was late and Lucuis bid them goodnight as the house elves and one Ministry Official followed them up to their rooms on the third floor.  
  
"Gentlemen," the house elf, Tribbles, Lucy remembered, indicated the second room on the left and the Ministry Official nodded for the boys to go in. The girls were put into the third room on the left.  
  
Sasha, Mai, Lesley, Saori, Katya, and Lucy looked around the room.  
  
It had obviously not been designed to sleep six. But Lucy was, nonetheless, impressed by the incredibly large windows on the opposite wall. There was a fireplace on the far left wall, and the bathroom on the far right. In addition to the large four poster bed there were three small cots, as well as a sofa and armchair near the fire.  
  
"I guess no one told them I was coming."  
  
Mai shrugged, "It's no matter. That bed can easily fit two, more if we need to, and there's the couch."  
  
Tired, hungry, and not willing to put up much of a fight over anything at the moment, the girls quickly came to the decision that Lesley and Sasha, being the smallest, would take the big bed, Mai, Saori and Katya would take the cots, and Lucy, being the shortest of the rest, would take the sofa.  
  
She didn't mind, it wasn't terribly lumpy, and it was the closest spot to the fire. She was just about to suggest they get changed when a knock came at the door.  
  
Lesley answered it to reveal a Ministry Official and a House Elf holding a long narrow box.  
  
"Can we help you?' Katya eyed the man suspiciously.  
  
"I've come to collect your wands."  
  
"What?"  
  
"It is standard policy, and especially as you are guests in the home of distinguished alumni, some of which will be entertaining important guests during your stay, we want to assure that no mishaps occur. Now, please place your wands in the box. They will be kept safe for you and returned when you make your journey home."  
  
They had no choice. Each brought her wand forward and bent down to place it in the House Elf's box.  
  
"Thank you for your cooperation." With a smile that looked more like a sneer, the Ministry Official turned on his heel and left, the elf following behind.  
  
It wasn't difficult to determine when the boys had to yield up their wands. Dimitri's cursing, which was both creative and vehement, could be heard remarkably clearly through the wall.  
  
A little too clearly. Mai approached the fireplace and looked up the flu.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
"We can hear them so well, I thought maybe the chimneys were connected or something."  
  
She ran her hand along the marble mantel, and lazily along the wall, knocking paintings askew and tapestries crooked. She picked up her fingers and examined the tips.  
  
"I do have to hand it to the Malfoy's, not a speck of dust."  
  
"What is that?" Sasha hopped out of an armchair and ran over to the wall near the mantel.  
  
"What's what?"  
  
"There's a handle there, help me move this painting." Lucy, Katya, Saori and Lesley hurried over to help.  
  
There, were the painting had hung, they could clearly make out the outline of a panel of wood that ran from the floor to 5 ½ feet above it, and was two feet wide. The painting had covered the top of it, and without that horizontal break it had looked just like any other piece of paneling. The handle Sasha had seen was three inches high and an inch wide, smooth metal, and the painting had been far enough out from the wall that it was not affected by it.  
  
Lucy grabbed on it and pulled. It didn't budge. She tried again, and the door moved slightly. One more heave had the girls looking into a narrow cabinet two feet by 5 ½ extending for three feet, and ending in a wall.  
  
"Wood," Lucy said, stepping in and examining the space.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Wood, this was a cabinet for storing wood, it was considered unsightly for it to be out in a scuttle near the fire. This must have been a muggle house before the Malfoy's owned it."  
  
"What do you say that?"  
  
"Think about it," Saori added, "No self-respecting wizard would build a room to house logs for fire when a magical one is just as easy to create."  
  
"I saw one just like it when we went to visit Salem, the House of the Seven Gables had one, only, that one had a secret-"  
  
Forgetting the secret passage, which led to a room for hiding runaway slaves, Lucy examined the crack in the far wall. She pushed, then again, and the door popped open, with Lucy falling half out of the cabinet and into the boys room.  
  
She looked up to see an astonished Misha staring down at her.  
  
"Lovely evening, isn't it?"  
  
It took a little explaining to sort out how Lucy had managed to come flying out through a tapestry and into their room (and for a few of the boys to hastily grab robes to toss over their boxer shorts) but once everything was cleared up the boys were thrilled with the discovery.  
  
"I bet they don't even know its here. This is great, now they can't keep us separated, we'll know exactly what is going on."  
  
"It also gives us another exit," Sasha pointed out.  
  
"What would we need it for though?"  
  
Sasha shrugged, and soon after the girls trooped back through the wall into their own room to go to bed. Mai made the suggestion of putting the sofa in front of the hidden door, just in case the boys got any funny ideas. Lucy didn't know if it was necessary, but the Slytherin women seemed to know their own well enough, so she agreed and helped push the back of the sofa against the wall before she snuggled down and fell asleep.  
  
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It was entirely too early when a loud pounding on their door woke the girls the next morning. Lesley growled and pulled the covers back over her head. Lucy snuggled back into the couch.  
  
THUD.  
  
"Ow," Lesley glared across the bed as she got up, rubbing her bottom. Apparently if Sasha wasn't able to go back to sleep, no one was going back to sleep. After ejecting Lesley the two of them threw pillows at the rest of the party until everyone was on their feet. Lucy was tempted to send the cushion hurled in her direction directly back at the offender, but decided it was best to tone down her abnormalities, no matter how much the girls knew. She did not intend to be hit, however, and a small push had the pillow veering off course and landing harmlessly three feet away.  
  
It was going to be a long day.  
  
Katya gave them an inspection before going down to breakfast. Once everyone's tie was straight, socks were untwisted and shoes were clean they set out. Lucy felt a bit uncomfortable, she normally wore her Espiritu uniform under her robes, and her regular Hogwarts attire was so unused it felt a bit stiff.  
  
But then again, that would probably make her fit right in.  
  
The Ministry official knocked on their door, entered, and motioned for them all to precede him into the hall. They collected the boys in the same manner and almost marched their way to breakfast.  
  
"They aren't going to let us go anywhere unguarded for the entire trip," Dimitri gravely realized.  
  
"Then I guess we should be glad the bathroom is connected to the bedroom, shouldn't we?" Vlad's joke didn't lift anyone's spirits, and breakfast was a rather quiet, grumpy affair.  
  
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"Where are the other houses?" Lucy elbowed Koji (or was it Kentaro?) They had traveled by flu powder from a grand fireplace in a large and lavish parlor on the second floor of the Malfoy home to "Ministry Immigration" and Lucy had rather uncomfortably fallen out from a fireplace at the end of a bustling hallway. No sooner had she landed than one of three Ministry Officials that were apparently standing by for arrivals took her by the arm with a degree of pressure she was becoming accustomed to, and whisked her down the hallway, through a corridor to the right, opened a door about a mile down THAT corridor and all but shoved her into the arms of the official waiting there to receive her.  
  
"Name?"  
  
"Lucy Montero," she grumbled, hauling the stack of papers out of her satchel to be signed and returned. After business was finished she was motioned in just in time as another official arrived dragging Costanzo by the arm appeared at the door.  
  
So now she sat, as they had been instructed to by the guard, in a hard wooden chair, swinging her legs and waiting anxiously for the arrival of Warren, who usually managed to calm her down about most anything.  
  
Whatever twin she had elbowed just shrugged, and Lucy slouched, folding her arms. "Immigration bites."  
  
It was a full thirty minutes before the door opened and Lucy saw the guard process Karen's papers. Karen wasn't paying much attention, but rather was peeking over and around the imposing figure in front of her until she saw Lucy, grinned, and mouthed, "Are you ok?"  
  
Lucy nodded and waved from across the room, and saw Karen's sigh of relief before she turned around, apparently communicating her discovery to someone behind her.  
  
The Ravenclaw guests, as Lucy would later learn, had come by car rather than by flu, so the whole lot showed up at once and pretty soon Warren was striding across the room and giving a bewildered Lucy a hug.  
  
"We were worried," he replied at her puzzled look.  
  
"What did you think they were going to do, eat me?"  
  
"Actually, William had money on a ritualistic blood letting..." When it became apparent that Lucy was not going to let him win, the older boy shrugged and sank into the seat that Koji/Kentaro had vacated to talk to the newcomers.  
  
"What can I say? We felt nervous and guilty."  
  
"Well you should, you left me out there like a sacrificial lamb."  
  
"So, what is it like?"  
  
"What's what like?"  
  
"Hell, I mean, the Malfoy home."  
  
"City residence," Lucy corrected, "the place couldn't be further from a home. And its, well, exactly what you would expect. And now I have a question for you."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Do they lock you in at night?"  
  
"They post a guard, Mrs. Merriweather's doors don't have locks. I think they might have sealed them magically, I didn't check. They lock you in?"  
  
Lucy nodded. "Did they take your wands?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah they did. You should have heard Mikhail letting the Ministry guy have it for that. That wand comes back so much as breathed on wrong and they are going to be in a world of trouble. Apparently he's made all sorts of personal modifications on it, it's absolutely irreplaceable."  
  
Lucy shrugged, "Ravenclaws."  
  
"That's what I thought. They're fine mates though, lousy at poker, so it works out well for us."  
  
"And the Merriweather place?"  
  
"Smells like cat-" They were interrupted by the arrival of the Hufflepuff guests. After they had all been processed, apparently the guard's duty was finished, and he exited, locking the door as he left.  
  
"Deja vu," Lukas muttered.  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&  
  
"And the reason that you did not take the Hogwart's Express for your return to school at the beginning of this term?"  
  
"I already told you, I came back early, and did not feel comfortable staying by myself in London. So I took the regular train into Hogsmeade and stayed at the Inn."  
  
"With the Lane boys?"  
  
Lucy raised her eyebrows and tried not to laugh. "No, not with the Lane boys, although I did see them, where I come from it would be considered somewhat inappropriate for a girl of my age to be living unsupervised with teenage boys, no matter what sort of gentlemen they appear to be."  
  
"And you gave no thought to the fact that what you were doing violated the immigration controls put in place by the Ministry?"  
  
"We were led to believe that all that was set up to protect students at the school, that's what you told us the restrictions and papers were there for."  
  
"What of it?"  
  
"Well, if we checked out with your guidelines and were let in at the beginning of the year, why on earth would they want to keep us out half way through? We're the same now as we were then. None of us suspected we would be forced through all the rigmarole until we left at the end of spring term."  
  
From the look on her interviewer's faces, they didn't believe one word. But as Warren had reminded her, it didn't matter what they felt. Their stories had been meticulously planned and coordinated, and enough people saying the same thing would have to override any "gut feelings" they might have about whether whatever they were saying was actually the truth.  
  
Lucy didn't mind. She'd become quite good at lying.  
  
"And just how did you expect the Ministry to react to all of this, Miss Montero?"  
  
"I didn't expect them to do anything at all, I'm not a criminal."  
  
"You broke the law."  
  
"I had no voice in the passing of that law, no vote, nor did anyone remotely concerned with my best interests. And as you people are so concerned about, I am a citizen of a different country. I complied with all regulations pertaining to the immigration of American muggles into muggle Britain, I figured that should be enough."  
  
"It would have been had you stayed in muggle Britain, but you didn't."  
  
"Do British students have to pass a screening to move from muggle controlled areas into wizard controlled areas?"  
  
"Of course not."  
  
"Then I shouldn't have to either."  
  
There was no response, and Lucy inwardly sighed with relief. She had raised all the issues and asked all the questions that Audrey Su had assigned her, with the intent of making the Ministry question their own policy, but she had no desire to attract more attention than necessary.  
  
When they had finished, she was escorted back to the detainment room, and there was nothing more to be done. Sentencing would be the next day, if they were found in-violation.  
  
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It was night by the time they returned to the Malfoy household. But rather than the quiet that one would expect, the living room Lucy fell out into was bustling with people.  
  
The Slytherin visitors stared. They were surrounded by people, drinking, eating tiny sandwiches, most with house elves at their elbows to run and get more food when called.  
  
It appeared that Mr. Malfoy was having a party. He spied them immediately.  
  
"Welcome back, my what a long day they gave you! You are hungry no doubt, the buffet is through those doors in the dining room, help yourselves. Don't mind the crowd I'm having a few friends over, colleagues, no doubt they know your parents," his gaze fell to Lucy, "Well, most of them at any rate."  
  
Lucy stared right back, nonplussed.  
  
"I'd invite you to stay, but I believe our Ministry friends would feel more comfortable with you in a more, contained, environment. One of the house elves will help you bring the food up to your rooms, goodnight."  
  
With a cool smile their host slipped out into the hall. Lucy craned her neck to see where he went, and was rewarded with the sight of a door at the end of the hall swinging shut with a click. However, it was the door she found most interesting. She managed to slip their guard in the bustle to eat and quickly made her way to the door Mr. Malfoy had just entered. Above it was a seal, a very peculiar seal that Lucy was sure she had seen sometime before. She noted that this room was situated approximately under her own, and decided to look into the ventilation system before going to bed. But that seal still nagged at her, she had seen it before.  
  
They were hurried through the buffet line and up to their rooms before "any trouble" could be cause. The door was closed with a decisive click as the locks, physical and magical, fell into place.  
  
There wasn't much conversation before bed that night, dinner was a quiet affair punctuated by few uplifting comments.  
  
"So, what do you think it will be, hot oil or the rack?"  
  
"Do they still behead people?"  
  
"Where are they keeping prisoners now that Azkaban's full?"  
  
They went to bed early. Lucy rotated with Mai, taking her cot at the far end of the room. Lights were out, Sasha was snoring, but she couldn't manage to fall asleep. Something was nagging at her. And it was coming from the floor.  
  
It was voices, several of them, and none of them happy.  
  
Propping herself up on one elbow, a quick glance around the room showed that no one else had heard a thing. Mindful of the creaky cot she silently slid out from under the covers and onto the floor on the side closest to the wall.  
  
She found the source of the voices, a vent with an elaborately designed wrought iron cover partially hidden by the cot. An ear to the floor told her the voices were coming from the room below, the room she had seen Mr. Malfoy enter.  
  
"And you're sure no one suspects?"  
  
"If they do then they're doing a fine job of looking everywhere but in the right place. For all they know the entire lot has just disappeared."  
  
"And we can be certain of their...fidelity?"  
  
"We ARE in a much better position to provide them with what they want, now aren't we?"  
  
"Answer the question, Crabbe, don't try to make your self sound more intelligent then you are, it doesn't suit."  
  
"They're ours, no question."  
  
"And the smokescreen? Lucius, certainly you've been in the best position to observe it in action?"  
  
"Hardly, but seeing as there are students being questioned and in fact, being held in this very building, I see no reason to think anything other than that the Ministry is completely convinced as to the source of the disturbances."  
  
"Very good, now-"  
  
"Now, I have a question of mine own, if it won't take too much time. At the last moment I was saddled with an additional charge, something about one of the LeFey brats having a cold. Since this is my home and I like to be well informed about everyone in it, perhaps one of your men working under Edward Farnsworth could enlighten us with whatever they know about a dark haired Gryffindor girl, in the sixth year, I believe?"  
  
Lucy gulped, well, at least now she would know what they knew.  
  
"Lucy Montero, isn't it? Yes, sixteen, second year at school, American, caused a bit of a stir last year as I understand but this year it seems no one pays much attention. Apparently the girl learned how to fit in."  
  
"A bit of a stir?"  
  
"From what I understand she managed to be placed in the fifth year class but knew next to nothing of wand usage, if you believe that. Seems Dumbledore must have been doing a favor for an old friend, only explanation really. She also managed to get into a few fights, or at least, she was remanded for discipline matters frequently and had several trips to the headmaster himself, the reasons were kept private. There was also some fantastical rumor about her being accompanied by a large savage bird...."  
  
"Sounds like a complete barbarian, and this year?"  
  
"Keeps to herself. She has been seen among Mr. Harry Potter's entourage, although that's not unusual for a year-mate in the same house, but most often we found her wandering the castle by herself, seems to know the place quite well for having spent only a year in it, my men had trouble keeping up at times; but since she never did anything interesting, they didn't investigate it further."  
  
"So she isn't the one who has been causing the set-backs?"  
  
"Definitely not. It would be very unlikely given her, shall we say, lack of sophistication with advanced spells that she could be interfering in the groundwork. It would require someone with much more remarkable abilities."  
  
"How long until you eliminate the problem?"  
  
"Hard to say, especially since whatever has been acting against us is coming from within the school. Since Dumbledore pulled the last of Edward's men out, we've been working almost blindly. You know Severus can only give so much."  
  
"No excuses, Simon. And find out what school Miss Lucy transferred in from. It could be that our two American pests are connected somehow. Now, speak of the Gryffindor, what about the other project?"  
  
"We need more data, I've said it before. There's no way to crack any of what we have without some kind of key."  
  
"Easier said than done! Neither you or Lucius has ever been out collecting, those people are unnatural, they....make your head itch."  
  
"For a society that is basically defenseless, I fail to understand what has been the cause of all the setbacks."  
  
"We've-"  
  
"I don't want to hear it, not from you or anyone. I hope none of us forget that we are not serving a Master who is accustomed to failure. He's waited a long time, but I don't think any of us want to test the limit of that patience. Now, if you will follow me, we can take a look at what we HAVE managed to sort out from all those hieroglyphics and other nonsense. This way."  
  
Lucy heard the sound of scuffling feet and the closing of a door. She flopped back onto her cot, although something told her sleep was not an option.  
  
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	19. Chapter Nineteen: Break on Through to th...

Chapter Nineteen: Break on Through (to the Other Side)  
  
It must be said that after all of the tension and anticipation, the actual judgment and sentencing portion of the London trip was rather anti- climatic. As per usual, the students were marched under the ever-watchful eyes of Ministry personnel through the halls of Immigration and into a large, empty room. Assembled alphabetical order in rows they stood nervously until a silver-haired wizard with the emblem of judge emblazoned on his robes walked in and stood before them.  
  
He looked them up and down and without preamble, "Adiodicare!" With a flick of his wand scrolls appeared in the hand of each student.  
  
"If you open the scroll in your hand you will find the judgment of the Ministry."  
  
Lucy looked down at the red paper in her hand, and in unison with those around her, quickly broke the seal and unrolled it. One the paper lay her fate, "In violation."  
  
From the faces of those around her, it looked like most everyone else was receiving similar news.  
  
"The decisions," the Judge continued, "in these cases were identical, so all of you will remain for the sentencing."  
  
Lucy cast her eyes down her line to the right, Warren Lane looked tense, the lines around his eyes were taught. He felt her stare and turned, shrugging his shoulders. No one seemed very happy, but no one seemed very surprised either. Until they got some sort of protective legislation passed, there wasn't much they could do to fight it.  
  
The Judge was talking again. "I want to impress upon you the severity of your actions. Ours is no longer a safe world, and dangers from every corner of the earth threaten to destroy our way of life. The Immigration legislation, whether you agree with it or not, has been put in place to protect the witches and wizards who reside in this country, and that includes yourselves. Now, while you have all been found unquestionably in violation, the panel believes, or perhaps hopes," he gave them a severe gaze, "that what was done was not meant to flagrantly flaunt the laws, but rather occurred because of a lack of understanding of the new system. This...idea, has been taken into consideration during the sentencing process. As a result the panel has agreed to grant the request of your headmaster, who spoke glowingly on your behalf's," at this the Judge gave a faint grunt, as if he didn't seem to think that mattered very much, "that he be allowed to oversee sentence design, rather than the Ministry."  
  
Murmurs rippled through the lines; surely Dumbledore was better than the Ministry chaps.  
  
The Judge cleared his throat for silence.  
  
"Each of you is sentenced to 200 hours of community service, to be fulfilled at Hogwarts under the supervision of your headmaster and heads of house. Now, any seventh year that fails to complete the 200 hours before graduation must make arrangements to complete the remaining hours with the Ministry. No student will be granted an Apperator's license until the hours are completed. Underclassmen who fail to complete the hours before the end of term may finish them next year. All hours are expected to be served within the time frame of one year, or further penalties will be awarded."  
  
There was a pause, Lucy couldn't tell if the judge was finished or not.  
  
"I would like to add on a personal note," apparently he was not finished, "that all of you should consider yourselves extremely lucky. Your sentence is incredibly light and I wish to make it quite clear that any further violations will not be handled in such an accommodating manner. A second violation will not be taken as a misunderstanding but as a threat to the Ministry, and violators will be subject to wand usage restrictions and the like." The Judge paused a moment and smiled, "I hope you will all understand when I say that I hope to never see your faces in here again."  
  
Having said what he needed to say, the Judge left without further comment. As the door swung shut behind him Smethyls entered and stood before them.  
  
"Your wands will be returned to you when you return to school, rest assured they are quite safe and un-tampered with," he shot a glance at Mikhail who glared right back.  
  
They were sent home after that, and given the afternoon to rest and give the Ministry a chance to get their never-ending mountain of paperwork ready and triplicated before they departed by portkey that evening.  
  
The Slytherins, Lucy, and their Ministry guards were all treated to lunch by Mr. Malfoy, who wasn't present but sent them his wishes for good luck on their final exams. Whatever was on the plate was supposedly a delicacy of some kind, but Lucy only managed about half of it before gag reflex overcame politeness. Nor was she the only one. While the boys devoured there plates and the leftovers of others, of the girls only Saori and Mai could stomach all of it. The adult guards were much more appreciative, and even ate the squishy black unidentifiable dots which Lucy swore were still hopping.  
  
There was to be no socializing after the meal, the violators were marched back to their rooms and locked in for what promised to be a boring afternoon. Packing didn't take very long since none of them had brought much, and pretty soon they were sitting around staring at the ceiling. One by one, they fell asleep. Lucy thought foggily that it was rather odd, being sleepy so early in the day, but the idea didn't stop her from collapsing on the sofa next to Sasha and dropping into oblivion.  
  
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It was the smell that woke her.  
  
She was groggy and not really awake, but that smell, she knew it meant trouble, this had happened before, where was that smell from? She rolled turning her head away from the back of the couch out into the open air and the smell hit her again. Then she remembered, half in a dream, she'd been six, it was summer and Rosa had made Antolin some beautiful new curtains for Lucy's room. She'd spent all day on the reservation with Diego and Tony and they had shown her a gory horror movie. She'd acted brave until she got home, and then had privately asked the professor for a night light. He'd forgotten it, so Lucy had found a candle and lit it herself to keep by her bed. In the night, the new muslin curtains had caught fire, and Lucy had awakened to this the smell... the smell of smoke.  
  
She sat straight up, fighting off the groggy feeling that would not go away. As soon as her head came up she was coughing. Smoke was billowing out of the fireplace and had filled the room. She continued to cough, sliding to the floor as the spasms rocked her body. Her coughing woke Sasha.  
  
"What's-" The little girl was only able to manage one word before the smoke hit her throat and she was no better than Lucy. Not one to panic, she slid to the floor, covering her mouth and looking at Lucy with big frightened eyes.  
  
By now the fuzziness had faded and Lucy could think clearer. She had no idea what was going on, but they needed to get out. By now the noise they were making had awoken Lesley and Katya on the cots, who tried to shout but ended up hacking along with the rest of them. Lucy and Sasha crawled toward the sound and met them in the middle of the room.  
  
"Keep your heads near the floor and breath," Katya managed.  
  
"Where's Mai and Saori?" Sasha croaked.  
  
Lucy cast a glance up at the bed, where the two had been playing cards when she dozed off. There were still two forms there.  
  
"They're still asleep!" She wheezed, shocked that they hadn't been awoken by the smoke irritating their lungs.  
  
"We'll get Saori, you get Mai," Lucy and Sasha nodded as Lesley and Katya crawled toward one side of the bed, and she and Sasha took the other.  
  
"Hold your breath," Sasha advised, before they stood up into the more smoke- filled air.  
  
No doubt about it, Mai and Saori were still asleep. They shook and pulled, and finally dragged them off the bed. The impact of landing on the floor brought them back to consciousness.  
  
"What-" Coughing seized Mai as she sat up. Lucy pushed her head back down to the floor. She looked under the bed across to where Saori was coming to.  
  
"We have to get out of here!"  
  
Katya nodded. Lesley crawled to the door and banged, again, and again.  
  
She shook her head.  
  
"It's locked! I don't think anyone's out there!"  
  
Saori got herself under control. "The passage to the boys room."  
  
Sasha shook her head, "It's right next to the fireplace, that's where the smoke is coming from, the windows?"  
  
Lucy shook her head, "We're on the -cough- third floor." She didn't add that this wasn't such a problem for her. She didn't think floating the lot of them down in broad daylight in the middle of London would be a good idea.  
  
"And they're locked," Katya pointed to the very thick, very secure glass. Knowing wizards, there was probably an anti-shatter charm on them as well.  
  
Lesley shrugged, "The passage then, its-cough- the only way out."  
  
Grim determination settled over the girls as they helped each other cross the room to the wall next to the fireplace. The smoke was practically unbearable in that part of the room so they had to act quickly. They ripped the painting off the wall and fiddled for a few precious moments with the latch before the door sprang open and Sasha slipped through to open the door on the other side.  
  
Her prediction had been right, the passage was filled with smoke, and once the girl entered, they couldn't see her. It wasn't until her arm reached back through and beckoned that they knew it was clear.  
  
Of course, there was no way to crawl through the narrow confines of the secret room, so each of them took a gulp of whatever good air was left on the floor before standing and hurrying through to the other side. Lucy went fourth, and Mai brought up the rear.  
  
The boys, incredibly, were all asleep. There was no smoke billowing from their fireplace, but the passage had leaked enough into the room that the girls still had to crawl to stay in the good air.  
  
Lucy reached Dimitri first, and when shaking didn't work resorted to slapping him in the face until he struggled back to consciousness.  
  
"Chto ty delayesh?"  
  
"Saving your life you ungrateful burro*cough* now get down here!"  
  
She didn't know whether it was the shock of opening his eyes in a smoke filled room or the fact that Lucy had understood Russian, but in the next moment Dimitri was on the floor and crawling toward Vladimir.  
  
It didn't take them long to realize that they were trapped. The doors were locked and solid wood, and the windows as well.  
  
"Now *cough * what?" They were huddled near the windows. The door of the passage was shut, but smoke was still leaking in quickly.  
  
Kentaro hopped down from where he had been standing on a chair, peering out the window.  
  
"If we could get out the windows, there's a water spout on this side we might be able to use to climb down, at least to the second floor, we could get back in there."  
  
"No," Lucy shook her head. "That's Mr. Malfoy's study."  
  
"So, this isn't the time to be polite."  
  
"Have you stopped to think about who might have done this? It's HIS house! No, I don't know about the rest of you, but if we get out the window, I'm getting out of this house."  
  
"And going where? We're in the middle of London, Diagon Ally is nowhere near here."  
  
"Well none of that is going to matter if we don't get out, is it?" Costanzo interjected.  
  
"We could smash them?"  
  
"Unbreakable charm?"  
  
Koji and Kentaro picked up a heavy wooden chair and threw it against the glass. It fell to the floor with a crash, snapping one of the legs. The glass remained intact.  
  
"Well that answers that question."  
  
Vlad smiled, "Hang on, I'll be right back."  
  
Before they could stop him he crawled back into the smoke and emerged a moment later, a wand in his hand.  
  
"What...where? Katya just stared.  
  
Vlad shrugged, "I've had two wands since I was 12. They never asked for both of them, now did they?"  
  
"Why don't you just open the door?"  
  
"Already tried, whatever they used, its a lot more than just Alohamora. I couldn't make a dent in it last night. But the windows, those I bet I can unlock."  
  
Within ten minutes, the windows were open, and smoke was pouring out of the room.  
  
"We could stay now," Koji pointed out, "I mean, now we have ventilation."  
  
"There could actually be a fire somewhere, we don't know what's making the smoke, I think we have more than enough reason to flee." Saori was already sticking her head out, gulping fresh air while studying their escape route.  
  
"Not that bad really. With the big windowsills we hardly need the pipe. If we can get to that little balcony on the second floor and hang and drop into the bushes, we should be ok."  
  
Despite the dubious stares, they had no choice.  
  
Lucy, for reasons she didn't discuss with the Slytherins, was very good at climbing and balancing on little ledges, and she and Misha took up positions on either side of the windowsill on the second floor, helping people down from the third floor window to the small balcony/window box outside Mr. Malfoy's study. The drapes were pulled, so Lucy couldn't see what was going on inside. The twins volunteered to go first, and then tried to help "catch" the others as they dropped to the ground.  
  
For such an intricate plan, they were all on the ground outside in under twenty minutes.  
  
"Well," Lesley looked around, "Now what?"  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &  
  
"My feet hurt."  
  
"We've been walking forever."  
  
"We're almost there."  
  
"Do any of you know why they call it a circus? There's no tent?"  
  
"I think its Latin for circle."  
  
"Oh, well, then that makes sense."  
  
"Which way?"  
  
"Um, that way, we're headed for 101-104 Piccadilly, so we head toward Park Lane."  
  
"That map is not upside down again, is it?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Just checking."  
  
They had enough emergency cash and moderately pretty things to pawn to get a taxi that dropped Costanzo, Lucy, Koji, Kentaro, Mai, and Saori at Piccadilly Circus, while taking the Russians on to the Kensington Palace area. None of them had realized just how long the road was, and by the time they reached the first destination, were all wishing they had kept the cab.  
  
"Ok, and after your done just call for the Knight Bus, I think they take credit at Gringotts," Saori reminded her before they parted.  
  
"I'll be fine, I'll meet you back at the Ministry."  
  
Then it was just her and Costanzo, who wasn't very talkative. When they reached Grosvenor Square one went left, and the other right, with nothing much to say to each other, it had been a long walk.  
  
Lucy breathed a sigh of relief as she approached the gate and saw the flag that fluttered from the roof. She looked over her shoulder out into the square and took in the statue of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Then she turned, smiled for the first time in what seemed like a month, flashed her passport, and decided that she had never been so happy to see a Marine in her life.  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&  
  
When Lucy and Costanzo finally boarded the Knight Bus, they were happy to see that the rest of the Slytherins were already there. Lucy especially felt that returning to the Ministry together would be much less frightening than trickling back in and being singled out one by one.  
  
It was about 9:30 when the cheerful driver dumped them out at the door to the Leaky Cauldron. Vladimir guided them into Diagon Ally, and to the Flu station. Misha was the brave soul to volunteer to return to Immigration first.  
  
Apparantly the Ministry didn't keep normal hours, because the hallway they emerged in was just as busy as it had been when they arrived this morning. She quickly stepped aside to avoid being knocked over by Dimitri, and once the entire group was through, they realized that they had absolutely no idea where to go next. It was the first time since they arrived that they had been in the Ministry halls without the ever-present talons of a Ministry official on their upper arms. Lucy felt the ache anyway and furiously rubbed it away.  
  
"I guess we should ask someone," Mai suggested.  
  
Misha took responsibility, striding up with head position and cool stare marking him distinctly as a Slytherin. He approached the first desk he saw, looked down at the curly haired witch with polka dot spectacles, and almost sneered.  
  
"Pardon me, the portkey to Hogwarts, where is it?"  
  
The little woman looked up, surprised.  
  
"Beg your pardon?"  
  
Lucy had previously thought only Snape could give such a condescending smile.  
  
"There is a portkey to Hogwarts this evening, I would like to know where it is being kept."  
  
The witch looked up blankly. Misha raised his eyebrows. Saori quickly stepped up next to him and cooly and innocently asked, "Is there a problem?"  
  
Misha looked at the curly haired witch.  
  
"One moment please," the woman quickly got up and scurried over to the next desk, speaking quickly with a plump, matronly witch. She then scurried back.  
  
"Portkey's with Mr. Smethyls, sir. You'll find him in his office at this hour, down the hall, last door on the left."  
  
"Thank you," Misha granted the woman a half smile before returning to the group, inclining his head down the hall, and leading them away. They had no choice but to follow.  
  
Misha didn't knock. He opened the door and led the group swiftly into a small room almost entirely occupied by a desk. They barely all fit inside.  
  
A very startled Smethyls looked up.  
  
"What..." He wore the same lost expression Lucy had seen on his face when Mrs. Le Fey failed to show up at the train station.  
  
"Good evening Mr. Smethyls, we'd like to go home."  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&  
  
It took no little sorting out before that could happen, but Misha was resolute, using his height at every advantage to intimidate poor Smethyls. He had become quite protective of the little group, especially once everyone became aware on the busride that the room most acutely affected by the smoke was the room the girls were staying in. Lucy recognized the aversion and disgust to picking on girls that most rational, educated men develop after completing puberty; and while she felt she should be insulted at the insinuation that females could not take care of themselves, she was happy to see it nonetheless. It was nice not to have to do all the work sometimes.  
  
Mr. Smethyls informed them that the Ministry had been aware of their disappearance, and that even now there were wizards searching the neighborhoods around the Malfoy residence for any sign of where they had gone. He then called in his secretary to inform the necessary people that the children had been found. The tall, severe looking woman dissapperated with a soft pop and in less than three minutes, another * pop * sounded in the hall. There was a knock at the door, which Sasha answered after a nod from Smethyls.  
  
Snape entered the room, a long cloak thrown over his everyday robes, and an unreadable expression on his face.  
  
"Professor Snape," Smethyls rose and crossed the room somewhat awkwardly, wading through bodies to reach the unmerciful stare of the Slytherin head of house. He gestured around the room at the sea of heads, "your students have, er, been found," he finished lamely.  
  
"So I see. " His gaze fell upon Lucy, and held. "That is not one of my students."  
  
"Yes, you see there-"  
  
"She can explain herself later. If the Ministry is quite finished with them I think it is time that the children be leaving."  
  
Lucy hated Snape, and would until the day she died, but at that point she could not have agreed more.  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&  
  
The portkey turned out to be a button on Smethyls' shirtsleeve. That meant the return process involved quite a bit of hand shaking. And, of course, form signing, initialing, and filing, in triplicate.  
  
It was late by the time they found themselves just outside the Hogwarts gates. Snape led them silently inside. Lucy was half asleep, and had been leaning more than her fair share on Katya during the walk back to the castle. When they reached the main staircase, however, they had to part ways. The Slytherins to the left and down to the dungeons, and Lucy up the stairs to the right, to the Tower.  
  
Vlad nudged her. "Lucy, time to go."  
  
It dawned on her at that moment that this was the first time since Warren had spoken to her that she was aware of the fact that the people around her were Slytherins. It was sad, really, that a school was this divided that whole sects of the population could be so isolated.  
  
She smiled sleepily, "See you at breakfast."  
  
Misha pretended to help her wrestle her bag off the cart that had been sent from the Malfoy household. As he handed it to her he whispered, "Tell Warren, we need a meeting as soon as possible, yes?"  
  
She nodded discretely.  
  
"Professor McGonagall has been informed of your whereabouts, you are expected to report to her first thing in the morning. And you are to return DIRECTLY to your common room, understood?"  
  
"Yes Professor Snape."  
  
With a gruff "Hmph," the potions master led his students down the hall, and with a final wave from a sleepy Lesley, Lucy was alone on the stairs. She thought about stopping off at Asriel's workroom, or the BA room, but decided against it, right now, all she wanted to do was sleep.  
  
She knew THAT wasn't coming when she could hear the voices before getting past the Fat Lady. Normally the common room walls were practically soundproof. She sighed and made her way through the portrait hole and into a common room crowded with people, and luggage. It appeared that the recently returned International misfits hadn't even made it back to their rooms before being accosted and questioned. There were little knots of people everywhere, and the Lanes were holding miniature court by the fireplace, in deep conversation, and terribly serious.  
  
That is, until Warren looked up and saw her.  
  
"Lucy!" He shoved past Karen and vaulted a couch before picking her up in a bone-crushing hug.  
  
When he finally put her down she cast a bewildered look at the expression of relief on his face. It was there, profound relief. She looked over at William and Wesley, Karen, Nicholas and Svetlana, and saw the same thing.  
  
"What is going on?"  
  
Warren just hugged her again and led her to the sofa, which she sank into with a contented sigh. William put a late edition of the Daily Prophet in her hand.  
  
"We picked this up in London just before we left," he said quietly.  
  
It was opened to the third page, "Hogwarts Students Missing in London."  
  
"The search continues into the night tonight for thirteen Hogwarts students between the ages of 11 and 17, who were reported missing this afternoon from a private residence in London. Their names have not yet been released, and details are sketchy at best, but this reporter has learned that the students were being boarded by members of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry's Alumni Board, who arranged for their stay in the home of Lucius Malfoy while they were in London under the guard of the Ministry of Magic for violations of the recently imposed immigration legislation and international residency laws. Transportation was to be arranged for a return to Hogwarts this evening, until word came at six o'clock from Mr. Malfoy that the students staying in his home had disappeared. There are also rumors of a fire in the Malfoy household, however Mr. Malfoy denies any such hazard. "The students were perfectly safe and well provided for in my care." Mr. Malfoy denies the claim that billows of smoke were seen in the early afternoon coming from his house, although he concedes that some, little smoke might have been the result of an incompetent house elf cleaning the chimney at that time. There is no word at this time how or why the students left the guarded Malfoy household, or where they may have been headed. Several other students were also in London on similar charges, arrangements were made for board in the Le Fey, Bones, and Merriweather households. Those students are expected to return to Hogwarts this evening."  
  
Lucy handed the paper back to William. Wesley looked at her intently.  
  
"Lucy, are you all right?"  
  
"I'm fine, we're fine, all of us. Misha wants a meeting as soon as possible, though. I think something important just happened."  
  
William nodded. Svetlana picked up her bag.  
  
"You should get some sleep."  
  
"You talked me into it," she smiled and rolled her eyes at the look on Warren's face. "I'm OK, really, you can feel guilty about forcing me to look at Lucius Malfoy while I ate breakfast, but you are NOT responsible for me just because you didn't feel like sacrificing yourself to the Slytherins."  
  
That got her a smile.  
  
"And, I know this is going to sound weird, but I'm kind of glad I was there. They're not evil, they're not even all that malicious. A bit bitter, justifiably, but they have a hell of a sense of humor. I LIKED hanging around them."  
  
Warren raised an eyebrow. Lucy shrugged.  
  
"Well, you know, once they convinced me that they only sacrificed first years."  
  
****Endnotes: I don't normally do endnotes, but since I'm in Texas at the moment and there was a fair bit of London geography, I felt the need to add a little something. The reason the Russians split off is because the Russian Embassy is located at 5 Kensington Palace Gardens, which, from the maps I had, was far away from the other three embassies. The Japanese Embassy actually IS at 101-104 Piccadilly and the American and Italian Embassies are across Grosvenor square from each other, or so the maps tell me. I have never been to London except for a brief layover in Heathrow and a trip when I was two, so no, none of this has been verified by experience. Oh, and Dimitri's bit of Russian means (theoretically) "What are you doing?". 


	20. Chapter Twenty: Standing Outside the Fir...

Chapter Twenty: Standing Outside the Fire  
  
Just after breakfast the next day, Lucy reported to Professor McGonagall's office. Taking a deep breath, she knocked softly on the door, hoping for no answer.  
  
"Come in."  
  
She had absolutely no luck.  
  
She pushed the door open to see the deputy headmistress seated at her desk marking papers.  
  
"Ah, Lucy, Professor Snape said I could be expecting you, have a seat."  
  
She sat quietly waiting to be drilled.  
  
"Do you know why you're here Lucy?"  
  
"I expect it is to tell you what happened at the Malfoy's yesterday."  
  
Professor McGonagall smiled.  
  
"Not exactly. I have already had a report from Professor Snape about what his students told him occured in the Malfoy home yesterday afternoon, there is no need for you to repeat it."  
  
"You believed them then?" Lucy looked up, surprised.  
  
"Why on earth should I not? It does sound rather peculiar, but if their head of house has faith in their word than I won't question it. As for the incident itself, well, that's for the Ministry to sort out. "  
  
"Then why-"  
  
"Are you here? I was wondering, if you would be so kind, as to tell me, Lucy, where you went after you left the house. Apparantly the Slytherin students would not or could not remember." McGonagall raised her eyebrows suspiciously.  
  
Well, it was bound to come out sooner or later.  
  
"I went to the American Embassy."  
  
She wasn't sure what the head of Gryffindor House had been expecting, but it certainly wasn't that.  
  
"The Embassy? The Muggle Embassy?"  
  
Lucy shrugged. "I guess I wanted to go somewhere I felt safe."  
  
"Safe? And you went there?"  
  
"Well, yeah. I mean, the people inside it are there to serve and help Americans like me. I knew I could trust them."  
  
"Trust them to do what, exactly?"  
  
"Look out for me."  
  
Professor McGonagall was no stupid woman, and she could tell from the look of confidant contentment on Lucy's face that whatever had occured inside the American Embassy was something more that just a casual conversation between copatriots. "In what way where they going to look out for you, Lucy?"  
  
"Well, I suppose it will sound a bit silly, but we were really spooked after we left the house, I mean, it felt like someone might have been trying to hurt us or something. And I realized, that, with my family gone and all, if something happened to me, no one might notice, not for a long time."  
  
"Well, that was a silly-"  
  
"So I made friends with the Marines, and some of the secretarial staff."  
  
"Made friends?"  
  
"Mmm hmm. I told them I was away at boarding school, and my parents were divorced, but my dad had been getting more and more angry, and I was afraid that he might come and pull me out of school, and my mom would never know. So I left an envelope with them, and told them that I would check in at the beginning and end of each term, and if I ever missed it, that they were to open the envelope and follow the note inside to get in touch with my mom. But not to open it until then because it was a private matter, and there was no need to piss off dad or alarm mom unnecessarily, she has delicate nerves."  
  
"You told them all of this, and they believed you?" The Deputy Headmistress was speaking very slowly now, as if trying to process exactly what Lucy had said while at the same time coming to understand what had really gone on.  
  
"I was quite convincing."  
  
There was a short silence.  
  
"Lucy, what was in the envelope?" From the look on her face, McGonagall already had an idea.  
  
"A map of London and precise instructions on where to find a certain pub, and more instructions on how to find a certain ally, down which they would have to travel to find a certain storage center to reclaim my belongings, which I would want sent to my mother. Oh, and a galleon, some sickles and gnuts to pay to rent on them, that sort of thing."  
  
"You gave them instructions to Diagon Ally?"  
  
"I told them I needed them to head toward an alternative end of town."  
  
"Lucy, how do you know they won't open the envelope even if you do check in?"  
  
"Because they're Marines, honor is a very big deal to them."  
  
"Do you realize this violates-"  
  
"I never signed anything pledging allegiance to this place, so I can't be in any sort of violation. Besides, I haven't revealed anything. They can't possibly fault me for writing down something about the magical world, you have a whole library full of books, and muggle-born students keep those same books in their homes, where they are a lot more likely to be stumbled upon than locked up in a Marine's locker."  
  
Professor McGonagall rubbed her forehead. "I hope, for your sake Lucy, that that is where they stay. Thank you for your honesty, you may go."  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&  
  
There was still another day left until classes resumed, and since Warren hadn't come back yet with a meeting time, Lucy and the BA decided to use the morning as a chance to catch up and practice focusing outside.  
  
Spring was finally beginning to come to Hogwarts. Once the sun burned off the damp chill of the early morning air the green landscape came alive. Lucy and Bet were making their way toward a tree near the lake that had protruding roots big enough to sit on or lean against. That is, until a bellowing voice stopped them in their tracks.  
  
"Lucy? Is 'at you? Come 'ere, come 'ere then, quick now!"  
  
Lucy spun around to see Hagrid waving madly at them from his hut.  
  
"What on earth is he talking about?"  
  
Lucy shrugged, "I better go see. I'm doing well in his class and I need that grade to balance out Potions and Transfiguration."  
  
Bet followed at a more elegant pace as Lucy trotted off toward the cabin on the edge of the woods.  
  
"What.....is it?" She panted, hands on her knees.  
  
"What do ye think it is? Yer egg! It's poppin'!"  
  
"Popping!" Lucy stared at Hagrid in horror.  
  
"Aw nuffin to worry about, perfectly normal, means he's about to come out. I was jest comin' up to the castle to find you. Not every day ye see a phoenix come out of an egg now is it?"  
  
"He's hatching?"  
  
"An' about time too. Been in der far too long for a phoenix, must be because he's a runt, follow me now."  
  
"A what!" Lucy had to run to keep up with Hagrid's long strides as he led her around the back of the cabin to a large box in the clearing with a large puddle around it and a stack of ice nearby.  
  
She forgot to ask the question again as she peered in. Sparks hadn't gotten any bigger, but he was indeed "poppin'"; the egg was sporadically bouncing all over his icy nest, hitting the walls of the box and skidding across to the other side. From the scorch marks all around, it didn't seem like Sparks had gotten any cooler since she had left.  
  
Hagrid appeared by her side, a pair of enormous pink oven mitts painted to look like pig snouts on his hands, and a smaller yellow duck-themed pair that he extended toward her.  
  
"Ye'll need those. Been reinforced by Flitwick 'imself, come in handy all the time."  
  
"How long will he do this for?"  
  
"Oh, hards to say, he's a bit peculiar, but not much longer. Now, what ye needs to do is get a hold of him."  
  
"Hagrid, are you insane?" Lucy asked, never taking her eyes off the egg.  
  
"Ye need to be holdin' 'im when he's finally born, imprintin' an' all. Pull these on, quick now."  
  
She tugged on the oven mitts and reached for the egg, which promptly bounced out of reach. It took her another ten minutes of frustration to get a hold of it, although when it was finally in her artificially enlarged hands, the popping was more subdued.  
  
Hagrid nodded. "In the wilds, the mothers, they sit on 'em, cover one hand with the other, like so," Hagrid nudged Lucy's right hand till it was covering the left, with Sparks sandwiched inside.  
  
He wasn't popping wildly anymore, but rather started to vibrate, till both of Lucy's arms were humming.  
  
"Good, good," Hagrid grinned wildly.  
  
At that moment Bet arrived, with Raseph and Lynx in tow.  
  
"Oy Lucy? What's going on?"  
  
Hagrid glanced at the newcomers, and then again at Bet.  
  
"Friends of yers Lucy?"  
  
"Of course, good ones."  
  
Lynx caught sight of the ducky oven mitts. "What on earth are you wearing?"  
  
They started to come towards the box when Hagrid held up a hand. "Stay back der you lot! Not entirely safe."  
  
Smoke began to rise from the ducky mitts. "Ummm, Hagrid, could you help..."  
  
"S'okay Lucy, ain't nothin goin' ta get through those mitts. Just keep a firm grip and brace yourself for-"  
  
At that moment Sparks and the mitts burst into flames.  
  
"HAGRID!"  
  
Hagrid clapped his mitts in glee. "Aw, here he comes, open hands Lucy, keep 'em together so ye catch 'em."  
  
"CATCH him!"  
  
She opened her hands so they were cupped together, and fire rose higher, sank, rose higher, and then collapsed. As it did so, Lucy once again felt a weight in her hands. She peered down into the pile of ashes.  
  
"Hagrid..."  
  
"Let's just wait an see, Lucy, just wait." But Hagrid's voice was very flat.  
  
Lucy waited peering anxiously into the pile of ashes for any sign of movement. After five minutes, she heard the groundskeeper sigh.  
  
"Er, Lucy, I'm-"  
  
At that moment the little pile of ashes began to stir, and Lucy blew on it to dislodge the ash, her hands being full already. She kept blowing ash off until from the depleted pile there emerged a grey, downy head, with a pale orange crest, large eyes, and a small beak.  
  
"Well, would ye look at that?" Hagrid smiled. "Brush 'im off Lucy, he's not big enough to climb out on his own."  
  
Cupping Sparks in her left mitt, Lucy tore off the other with her teeth and began to brush the remaining ash away from the newborn. When he was clear enough to see, Sparks was about the size of her fist, not counting the tail, and she cupped her free hand under him as soon as possible.  
  
By now Lynx, Rasheph and Bet had hurried over, and were peering over Lucy's shoulder.  
  
"He's awful small though, isn't he?" Rasheph asked Hagrid.  
  
"Well," Lucy shrugged, "He's only a baby."  
  
"Nah," Hagrid said, "He's right, that there is an abnormally small pheonix. But he's runt so's I kinda expected that."  
  
Lucy whirled, holding the baby bird to her chest. "Why do you keep calling him that? How can you know he's a runt before he's even born?" At that moment Sparks shook out his feathers to clean off the ash, and Bet giggled.  
  
"He certainly seems fine."  
  
"Come on in the house, you lot, I'll give ye something to feed him right now Lucy, he needs to eat. But after that its part a yer assignment to feed 'im yerself."  
  
As they sat around the fire and Hagrid gave Lucy a dropper and bowl of something between rice pudding and soup to feed Sparks, he set about explaining about runts.  
  
"Well, when ye been in the trade as long as I have, ye learn stuff. An I knew that if that actually was a phoenix egg, nothin' it could be but a runt then. See, phoenixes don't lay eggs real often, because they just keep gettin' reborn, so, who needs to lay eggs. It's really only in troubled times, when phoenixes are gettin' killed-"  
  
"They can get killed? But-"  
  
"Powerful dark magic, there's ways that can strip 'em of their immortality, make 'em so they can't be reborn, but it hardly ever happens. That egg was from a forest in the Transylvanian mountains, one of them places they think powerful dark wizards are hidin' out, could be why the phoenix laid it. But even if a phoenix lays an egg, that doesn't always mean they'll care for it till it hatches. Figure out why?" He raised en eyebrow at Lucy.  
  
"Because its a great big firey pain?"  
  
Hagrid nodded, "Exactly. Takes a lot of work being a phoenix parent, an its not always worth it. So, if things change before the egg hatches, or the parent doesn't think it's worth it to keep caring for the egg, they'll abandon it. Sometimes eggs get abandoned if a phoenix lays it too close to burnin' time, since when they are reborn they're not but babes themselves an' can't care for it. When eggs are layed an then abandoned, they're what we call runts."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because egg temperature is so important durin' development. The egg can't get too hot too fast, or it'll burn through all the food in there meant to last it till hatching time. No one knows how long this egg was abandoned before the trader found it, but the longer no one was carin' for it, the more likely it would be a runt, or possibly a dud."  
  
"A dud?"  
  
"An baby phoenix that wouldn't have the energy to rise from the ashes in its first burnin'."  
  
Lucy understood now why Hagrid had been so quiet before Sparks' head had appeared.  
  
"But how did you know the egg was abandoned, how do you know they didn't just take it from a nest?"  
  
"Because it was dirt cheap. Full phoenix eggs cost more than Cornelius Fudge makes in a year, they're powerful ingredients in potions to stop aging, an fight disease an the sort. Besides, its against the laws most everywhere to take an egg away from a nesting phoenix, if you could mind you, parent phoenixes are awful protective; so that drives the black market price up even more for genuine ones."  
  
Lucy looked down at the bundle of feathers compulsively gulping down dropperfulls of broth and wondered.  
  
"Hagrid, does that mean that Sparks won't be as big as other phoenixes when he grows up?"  
  
Hagrid shook his head. "From the look of him now, he'll be a little more than half the size of a normal phoenix, maybe 2/3 or so. An he'll be paler, not so bright red. See how his crest is more orange?"  
  
Lucy nodded. "But other than that, he'll be ok?"  
  
"He came through his first burnin' a little slow, but he came through. That's a pretty good sign that he'll be perfectly healthy."  
  
Lucy smiled and stroked the downy head.  
  
"Oh, while yer 'ere Lucy, how was the trip?"  
  
Lucy's eyes met those of the BA. She glanced down at Sparks and flicked some more ash off his feathers.  
  
"Smokey."  
  
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By the time they were on their way out of Hagrid's, Lucy clutching a small, downy bundle to her chest, the weather had taken a severe turn.  
  
"Oy, looks like another one of those storms," Rasheph pointed to the thunderheads above the lake.  
  
"What storms?" Lucy was distracted by the absolute beyond-adorableness of Sparks' little beak.  
  
"Oh, we've been getting them a couple times a day the past few days. They're really brief, loud, noisy, but it doesn't rain, just gets really dark and windy."  
  
"Lot's of lightening," Lynx added.  
  
A worry line appeared in Lucy's forehead. "And then they just dissappear?"  
  
Bet nodded, stroking Sparks' head. "They blow out almost as fast as they blow in, it's very peculiar...what's wrong Lucy?"  
  
She tried to shake off the worry, it couldn't possibly be THAT.  
  
"Nothing, um, do you mind if we meet later in the week? I have to check on something."  
  
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She worked her way through Asriel's reference notebooks with an increasingly nagging sense of worry. There were dozens of these; Lucy hadn't been through them all because they didn't contain anything new, they just contained his very, very old notes from his late Intermediate years. Whoever Asriel's mentor had been, he must have been fond of dictation. Or Asriel was just an obsessive note-taker.  
  
She finally located the one she had looked at only a few weeks ago, when her channels were still raw and delicate and hiding away from people here in the workroom was one of her only recourses for some peace and quiet. She had been worried then about the storm that blew in when the gate closed, and about what other unseen damages she and Diego could have inflicted unknowingly on the environment. It was in that tatty notebook, which seemed to have had a dunk in a lake or been exposed to harsh rain, that she found a rather complete dissertation on weather-working magic.  
  
That was an unusual thing. Weather magery was not a commonly taught or commonly practiced art. It wasn't as rare as earth-sense, and many people had the ability to learn it, but it simply was not commonly taught; mostly because of the huge and potentially damaging impact that a small mistake could have on the area around it. To avoid catastrophes that could arise from even minor dabbling, weather working texts were kept under lock and key, and were one of the only universally restricted texts in the Western Circle.  
  
As she reread the passage she had studied before, Lucy could not tell whether Asriel had or had not learned the art of weather working. What the journal detailed was not the how-to's of the subject, but the symptoms, the consequences on the environment of weatherworking as well as part of the side effects of large elemental spells.  
  
It was from that description that Lucy began to believe the suspicion she had had that afternoon by the lake. The storms that suddenly appeared and suddenly dissapeerd were not natural at all. Someone was working powerful magic, and it was affecting the natural flow of energy. And whatever was going on, it was going on nearby.  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& "You really think someone was trying to kill you?"  
  
"I didn't say kill-"  
  
"But you think they were trying to hurt you, with a guard right outside?"  
  
"No," Misha growled and collapsed back onto the sofa. They had taken the Ravenclaw room behind the library again, although the seating arrangement was somewhat different. The students who hadn't gone to London had ended up seated together along one wall, while the Gryffindors who did go were scattered among the Huffelpuff and Ravenclaw knots. Lucy was standing between Saori and Vladimir with the Slytherins, watching Misha try and explain what had happened to Audrey, Mikhail, Maeve, and the Lane brothers.  
  
"What?" William in particular looked confused, "No what?"  
  
"No, they weren't trying to hurt us."  
  
"Well then why-"  
  
"They were just trying to hurt the girls."  
  
The room fell silent.  
  
"How-"  
  
"Well the smoke was coming out of our damn fireplace, and only our damn fireplace, it's a pretty fair assumption that we were the targets!" Mai threw up her hands in exhasperation.  
  
"Could they have been after something in the room?" Costanzo offered.  
  
"We were going to be leaving in a matter of hours, there would have been no need to go to all the trouble..."  
  
"Still, smoking you out hardly seems stealthy, its not like you didn't notice," Warren rubbed the bridge of his nose before resting his forehead in his hand.  
  
"We weren't supposed to notice," Lucy said slowly, remember the groggieness, "We barely woke up as it was, a few of us, and it took a lot more to wake up the boys and Mai...and Saori..."  
  
"Heavy sleepers?" Audrey raised her eyebrows.  
  
"Heavy eaters," Lucy's eyes met Katya's.  
  
"The food," the Russian breathed.  
  
"What?"  
  
"They must have drugged the food, but it was already awful, the only ones who were hungry enough to eat a full serving were the boys, and Mai and Saori-"  
  
"And the Ministry guards," Sasha added quietly.  
  
"Well that explains why all of our screaming wasn't noticed," Koji added bitterly.  
  
"So, you're saying Lucius Malfoy drugged you?"  
  
"Well, it could have been anyone I guess, but it was his house..."  
  
"Where's the article?" Audrey clearly had an idea but didn't say what it was. Lucy produced the paper and handed it over.  
  
"Interesting...." the was an uncomfortable silence.  
  
"Well?" Maeve finally burst out.  
  
"Let me get something straight first. You said after you got back you had lunch, then went upstairs and fell asleep?"  
  
"We packed, but that only took a few minutes, by then we all felt groggy-"  
  
"Thanks to the lovely home poisoning," Koji growled.  
  
Misha rolled his eyes, "And we fell asleep. I didn't wake up until the girls came in shouting."  
  
"And kicking," Dimitri rubbed his bruised forearm.  
  
"What time do you think you left the house?"  
  
Lucy looked from side to side, getting blank stares from most of her roommates. With all the chaos, she hadn't paid any attention to the time....  
  
"2:35," Sasha piped up. Most of the Slytherins as well as Lucy gave her a questioning look, but the small girl just shrugged.  
  
Audrey raised her eyebrows.  
  
Karen let out a frustrated sigh, "So what's so interesting?"  
  
"Only the fact that Mr. Malfoy didn't report anyone missing until six o'clock."  
  
Warren eased himself down in an overstuffed armchair. "That's an awful lot of time to be cleaning the chimney..."  
  
Lesley slumped against the wall and crossed her arms over her knees. "If it was Mr. Malfoy, that just proves there's nothing we can do. We can't accuse him."  
  
"We don't have that kind of power," Alessandra grudgingly agreed.  
  
Audrey sighed, removed her glass and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "We NEED that protective legistlation passed."  
  
Wesley groaned, "It was all we could do to get it written and on the agenda, but Fudge still has the power to table any vote or decision until next year, or the year after that, or the year after that."  
  
"If we don't get it," Katya grimly reminded them, "Merlin only knows what could happen next, to any of us."  
  
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The joint session of the Council of International Affairs and the Board of Governors of Hogwarts wasn't scheduled for another two weeks, at that time the student's proposal would be discussed and voted upon. Until then, there was nothing for the international students to do but wait and listen. And of course, go to class.  
  
For Lucy, there was more than enough going on to keep her mind occupied without that extra burden. Advanced Astronomy had gone to an uncomfortable place as a result of the once-in-a-century celestial and planetary allignments, most of which involved something that didn't rise until around 2am. While class had been cut to once a week to make up for the loss of sleep, you could still spot professor Sinastra's students by the bags under their eyes, and Lucy was no exception. There was also the disturbing fact that she had yet to hear anything from Diego to keep her up at night as well. Faustas had assured her he was probably prevented from long range communication as a part of the Tibeten healing Temple's restrictions, but Lucy was uncomforted. And now she couldn't even ask Faustas about it anymore since he had left for an extended trip to Istanbul and Cairo, and most likely Peru as well. But she was satisfied that he carried with him a detailed account of his observations of the magical storms as well as Lucy's account of what she had been told, which he promised to deliver to a capable weather mage to ascertain what was going on at the school.  
  
Faustas had also promised to return with more information about the Siberian phenomena. The last Lucy had heard a corps of Maintainers had set out into the wilderness to locate and track the dementors, but that had been weeks ago and she was getting anxious.  
  
A door slammed furiously in the stairwell, jolting Parvati out of her nap. Lavender snapped out of her trance and made a snatch at her crystal ball before it could roll off of the table. Sparks squawked and dove onto Lucy's bed, scattering her star charts all over the floor. Lucy sighed and scratched him under the chin.  
  
Lest she should forget, there was always the Harry-Hermione-and Ron show to watch as well.  
  
"Three...two...one..." Lavender turned her eyes to the door, Lucy kept a firm hold on Sparks, and Parvati covered her ears.  
  
*BANG! The door to the room flew open as Hermione stormed in.  
  
"Aww, come on-" As Ron's voice came from the hallway Hermione's arm shot out for the edge of the door and pulled. At almost the same time three wands came up as Lucy, Parvati, and Lavender shouted "Confuto!"  
  
Hermione raised her eyebrows as the door continued to smoothly swing closed, silently.  
  
Hermione shrugged, threw herself on her bed, and screamed into her pillow.  
  
Parvati's head fell back on her own. "This cannot continue."  
  
"Not if we're ever going to get any work done in the room at any rate."  
  
"We could try the common room again..."  
  
"And be massacred by the O.W.L prep-cult? No thank you, I choose life."  
  
Lucy grinned and began scooping up her charts from the floor. This year's batch of fifth years were hitting the pre-test preparation hard. None of the other Gryffindors had much of a clue why, but Ginny Weasley had said something about a bet with the Slytherins, of which there was apparently a lot riding on. In any case, so as not to let the other side in on what they were doing, the fifth years had abandoned studying in any public room and would descend on the common room en masse just after dinner. Anyone attempting to study during that time would have to dodge misflung spells and attempt to block out the chanting that was the current memorization method. Since Lucy was doing most of her studying in the BA room or Asriel's workroom, the little that she had to do in the tower wasn't impacted much by the O.W.L squad, but she sympathized with ANYONE trying to focus on advanced Divination with all that noise.  
  
THUD THUD THUD, three heads swiveled toward the door. Hermione didn't move, but a slightly muffled, "Go away Ron!" came from under her pillow.  
  
"Lavender, Lucy, somebody let me in."  
  
"She's got all the best hexes Ron, that wouldn't be healthy, for either of us."  
  
"Hermione, this is stupid."  
  
"Oh yeah Ron, that's the way to get her to come 'round."  
  
"Stay out of it Parvati, you always take her side anyway."  
  
"That would be impossible, since none of us has a clue as to what in Merlin's name the three of you are up to. But I'll give you this advice Ronnikins: Move your skinny pale arse away from our door right now, or I'll tell little Eliza Hubbaple that you've been secretly harboring a crush on her for the past few weeks but were too shy to tell her. And I'll advise her the best way to profess her love would be to sing to you in the Great Hall, right before a Quidditch match."  
  
Eliza Hubbaple was a second year who had been making calf eyes at Ron for months, much to his embarrassment. It was more than enough to convince Ron to try to talk to Hermione later.  
  
"Now, Hermione, could you at least give us a-"  
  
"No."  
  
"Well fine, be that way." Parvati flopped back on her bed in a huff. Lucy looked at Lavender and shrugged. Hermione pulled a book off the stack next to her bed and began to read.  
  
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK  
  
Four voice unison: "Go away Harry."  
  
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On Sunday evening a notice was posted in the Gryffindor common room:  
"The following students will report to Professor Snape's Office Monday morning at 6 o'clock:  
Alessandra Dicus  
Nichloas Kornakovitch  
Svetlana Kornakovitch  
Warren Lane  
William Lane  
Wesley Lane  
Lucille Montero  
Karen Su" On Monday morning the eight condemned souls stumbled bleary-eyed into the common room and silently made their way to Snape's office together.  
  
The Potions master, looking far to alert for that unholy hour of the morning, was seated at his desk, his quill moving briskly over a ream of parchment. He looked up at their entrance.  
  
"Oh, there you are," he put down the quill with mild irritation, as if he had been expecting them for hours. He shuffled through a stack of papers on his desk, then turned back and handed them each a small piece of parchment.  
  
"It was decided that, to ensure fairness and eliminate the possibility of favoritism, your service sentances from the Ministry would be overseen by a professor other than your head of house. Since Gryffindor and Slytherin had by far the largest number of offenders, Professor McGonagall and myself only thought it fair to exchange students."  
  
At her left elbow, Lucy felt Alessandra sway, Nicholas helped steady her. Karen had gone pale, and Warren had the same look of quiet unceasing determination that made it difficult to believe he had even heard what Snape had said.  
  
"The rosters before you provide a detailed outline of when and where you are expected to report. Absences are inexcusable unless both Professor McGonagall and the headmaster approve them, and will be reported to your Ministry Liason. In addition, any absences will result in additional time spent with myself or Mr. Filtch in detention. Any questions?"  
  
Svetlana timidly rasied her hand.  
  
"Miss Kornakovitch?"  
  
"Why do some of us have more duties than others?"  
  
Snape smiled. "Some of you have less time than the others. For most non- graduating students the service time will be continued next year, however, those students tragically leaving us at the end of the term have had their schedules adjusted in light of this fact so as to complete their sentence before departure."  
  
Lucy looked down at the schedule. Snape was right, Warren had many more shifts than the others, but then she and Alessandra also had the same load.  
  
"But I'm not graduating professor."  
  
Snape gave her a cool smile, "I'm not surprised Miss Montero, but that is not my problem."  
  
"Why do I have the same assignments as a seventh year?"  
  
"A rather astute suggestion was made by the Minstry that since charity funding to international students has been cut, those students relying on it previously might be unable to return next year, and to ensure completion of sentances we should assign all hours for such students this term. Your schedule has been adjusted to account for this."  
  
Snape surveyed the unhappy group, making no attempt to hide his pleasure. "Well then, if there are no other questions, I will expect to see you promptly at the beginning of your shift, which, for some of you, begins immediately."  
  
Lucy, Warren, and Wesley remained behind as the rest of the Gryffindors returned to bed to catch a few remaining moments of sleep. When the door had closed behind them, Snape returned to his desk.  
  
"Mr. Lane and Miss Montero, there is a list of ingredients that need to be prepared for the first and second years' afternoon classes on the front bench. There are freshly arrived and harvested stocks in the small storeroom, I trust you remember how to sort through those from our time together last year Miss Montero, I'll expect immaculate and full containers in the student supply cupboards of Dungeons A and B before you leave for morning classes. If you do not finish, you may complete the task during lunch.  
  
"Don't think I've forgotten you, young Wesley. After an unfortunate accident a glowing purple film remains on the bench tops in E. It is stubborn, but I have devised a way to eliminate it."  
  
"Scouring spells?"  
  
"Not quite," Snape smiled and held up a toothbrush and three tubes of Magical Merlin's triple action toothpaste. "I'll expect the first four tops to be cleaned before you leave here today. That room won't be used till tomorrow, which will leave ample time for your fellow conspirators to take care of the rest."  
  
The three students looked at each other in a stunned silence. Snape had returned to his papers, and looked up again, as if surprised they were still there.  
  
"It's quite a long list Miss Montero, if you feel like eating lunch at all today I would begin immediately. I'll be checking in periodically."  
  
Because the morning just wouldn't be complete without it, Lucy thought to herself, as she saw the word "testicles" on the list and decided that not eating lunch might not be such a bad idea. 


	21. Chapter Twenty One: Ride the Lightening

Chapter Twenty One: Ride the Lightening  
  
As it was, lunch was practically over by the time Lucy and Warren had checked the final items off the list and began to haul the large, full, heavy jars into their proper dungeons. Warren took A, and Lucy trudged off down the hall and around the corner to Dungeon B.  
  
She never saw it coming. One moment she was focusing on keeping the jar with the entrails she had just pickled out from under her nose, and the next she was lying flat on her back, watching in unspeakable horror as too many hours of hard and smelly work flew out of her grasp and into the air.  
  
"Immobulus!" The sound came from behind her, and Lucy watched in fascination as the jars froze in the air before scrambling to her feet, whipping about, and coming face to face with Hermione Granger.  
  
"What are you doing?" They both asked at once.  
  
"I am paying my debt to society, or so I've been told," Lucy grumbled as she carefully plucked jars from the air and placed them on the ground. "What are YOU doing here?"  
  
"Your debt to society?"  
  
"This is part of my sentence for ducking the system in January. Snape is in charge of all Gryffindor offenders, and Warren and I spent all morning and all lunch prepping this stuff."  
  
"I'm really sorry Lucy, I'll give you a hand, where are you taking all this?"  
  
"Dungeon B but-"  
  
Before she could question Hermione any further the clever witch had scooped up half the ingredients and hurried away down the hall. By the time Lucy arrived the jars were neatly arranged in the supply cupboard and Hermione was nowhere in sight.  
  
Now what on earth was that all about?  
  
She shut the cabinet door and hurried back through the damp halls towards the ground floor. If she took the shortcut through the BA classroom she could pick up her materials for Care of Magical Creatures, grab a bite to eat from Lynx's stash in the bookcase, and still make it to Hagrid's class on time.  
  
No sooner had she come out from behind the bookcase than she knew THAT plan was definitely not in the cards. Bet was white as a sheet, and laying down on the sofa, her legs dangling over one arm. Lynx was next to her on an overstuffed chair, a cloth over his forehead. Rasheph was crossed legged on the floor, massaging his temples.  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
Bet picked her head up, "We were sort of hoping you could tell us. This thing sort of hit us during lunch...I tried to find you, but DOING anything just seemed to make it worse."  
  
"Make what worse?" Lucy sat on the edge of the table, mystified.  
  
"The headache, the spine wrenching, brain twisting headaches Lucy, are you telling me you honestly don't feel it?" Lynx looked at her in disbelief.  
  
Lucy shook her head, then very carefully peeled away several of her outer shields.  
  
And was hit with the sensation that a little man was inside of her skull with a chainsaw, working his way out. She swore colorfully in Spanish before slamming the shields back up.  
  
"Have you tried reinforcing your shielding?"  
  
Rasheph nodded, "They got completely wiped out. Trying anything now just seems to make it worse."  
  
"Sounds like whatever this was it bruised your channels, hang on." Lucy grounded and centered before carefully imposing the strongest outer shields she could muster over the three suffering students.  
  
Bet sighed, "You can have my firstborn if you promise never to take that away."  
  
Lynx leaned back against the chair, "So why didn't this hurt you, Rasputin?"  
  
Lucy thought for a moment. "I was with Snape all morning and most of lunch, or at least, he threatened to pop in during those times, and I always have my shielding up more vigilantly when I'm around him, gut instinct. The initial whatever this was must have been some release of energy if it affected your channels, but I'm not sure how the hell it targeted us. I don't know of anything that could do that, not even gates backfiring affect everyone, just the person making the gate. That's the only energy backlash I know of."  
  
"But its still going on, you felt it just now, didn't you?"  
  
"Yes, I felt it."  
  
Rasheph lay down on the blessedly cool stone floor, too tired to move. "It's a lucky thing for us that you got here, I was about to vomit, this is worse New Year's fifth year when Keegan MacMurchadha tried out the new distillation spell and we all got schnockered."  
  
Lynx's ears perked up, "She found a better one than Lactusdehydrogenous?"  
  
Rasheph smiled fondly, "Oh yeah, water to 150 proof in less than five minutes."  
  
"Wow," Lynx's eyes glazed over a bite as he imagined the possibilities.  
  
"Leaves you with a nasty hangover, especially since I didn't have Keegan's fabulous Irish tolerance for alcohol and she got a disproportionate amount of pleasure from pitiful state in which I spent the first moments of the year."  
  
Lucy rolled her eyes, she thought it rather strange that the Irish were so proud of their ability to drink massive quantities of beer without falling down. Aislan had often boasted of it, and she had ask Seamus once-  
  
Seamus. Shit.  
  
"I have to go," she blurted out suddenly, grabbed her satchel, and bolted up the stairs.  
  
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Gryffindor tower was normally quiet at this time of day, only disturbed by students dashing in to retrieve a forgotten quill or misplaced homework assignment before dashing off to the next class. But when Lucy entered, the normally tranquil state of the common room was being disturbed by what sounded like the mother of all rows coming from the 6th year boys' dormitory. Which was, sadly, exactly where she was headed.  
  
"You ruined it, why? I just don't understand Hermione, why?"  
  
"For your own good! Don't you two see what could have happened?"  
  
"No, because you never tell me anything, or Harry for that matter! You say you are going to help, and then you find that THING and it becomes like an obsession!"  
  
"It is NOT-"  
  
"I don't care! You can live down there if you want to, but why did you have to go and spoil everything we worked for, I just don't understand Hermione!"  
  
"You COULD HAVE KILLED YOURSELVES! Don't YOU get it? Mucking about with that stuff, not knowing what you were doing, you could have DIED!"  
  
"Oh, I see, so just because YOU weren't helping us, Harry and I were automatically going to fail, that's it?"  
  
Lucy was feeling rather uncomfortable standing in the doorway like this, so she rapped rather loudly on the doorjamb. Hermione and Ron's heads swiveled in her direction.  
  
"Er, I was looking for Seamus?"  
  
Harry, whom she hadn't noticed, sitting so quietly and solemnly on the edge of the bed, pointed towards Seamus's drawn curtains. "He came up during lunch, I think."  
  
"And he's been asking you screeching harpies to bugger off since you walked in the door. Can't you go fight in Hermione's room for a change?" Everyone jumped a bit at the sullen softly muffled voice from behind the curtains.  
  
Hermione gave everyone a withering stare and stormed out, with Ron following her indignantly. Several moments later a slam was heard and a muffled repeat of what Lucy had walked in on ensued.  
  
Harry collapsed on his bed with his shoes still on. Since Lucy had received no further invitation from the boy behind the curtain, she simply sighed, grounded and centered, focused on Seamus, and pulled a sturdy shield around him. She closed the door when she left, gathered her nerve as she drew toward the sound of the melee taking place in her own room as she opened the door.  
  
"WHAT?" Was the angry response to her presence.  
  
"Just needed to get my books," she muttered, searching about under the bed for the proper scrolls and notebooks before beating a hasty retreat to the door, backing out to make sure she wasn't hit with a curse in the back, and closing it behind her.  
  
When she turned around, Seamus was standing before her, looking a bit lost.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
Lucy shifted awkwardly. "You're welcome."  
  
"You look all right."  
  
Lucy nodded, "It didn't really affect me, I had a lot of shields up," she answered lamely.  
  
"Then, how did you know..."  
  
"The BA got hit pretty hard, it was as I was reinforcing them that I realized you were probably in a similar state."  
  
"Felt like I'd been hit by a bloody bludger to the head...make that a couple dozen bludgers to the head, continuously."  
  
Lucy had to smile at that, but she stopped when Seamus abruptly dropped his.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"You mean, you're putting up shields on all of us?"  
  
"Well I couldn't very well leave you the way I found you now could I?"  
  
"Lucy, you can't possibly keep that up all day, you'll pass out."  
  
"I'm hoping I won't have to, if I can find what caused it."  
  
"So I take it this isn't natural?"  
  
Lucy shook her head, "Not at all, someone has been mucking about with something pretty powerful-"  
  
She paused, mucking about, when had she heard that phrase today....  
  
"Hermione."  
  
Her first thought was to confront Hermione directly, but from the sounds coming out of her room, that sounded like a very good way to get her nose hexed off. That left only one person to go to.  
  
"Harry? Harry? Harry please get up."  
  
"Geerofffeevgotfivemoreminutes."  
  
"Harry!"  
  
Harry sat straight up. "What?"  
  
"Harry, this is really important, I need to know exactly what Hermione was doing that made you so mad."  
  
"Lucy, that's really none of your business."  
  
"Yes it is. Listen, something bad has happened, really bad, and I need to know what Hermione was mucking about with because that might be where the problem is."  
  
"Mucking about?"  
  
"Yes," Lucy was getting exasperated, "Ron was yelling at her about mucking about down somewhere with something. I need to know what that was."  
  
Harry looked a bit confused, then, "Oh, the whodoeswhatsit."  
  
"That what?"  
  
"The Thing, the Thing Hermione found, we had no idea what it did, so we called it the whodoeswhatsit."  
  
"Where is the whodoeswhatsit?"  
  
"Down in the dungeons somewhere, where we were working."  
  
The dungeons, where Hermione had run into to her earlier today and then rushed off, right around the time the BA said that the disturbance occurred. It couldn't be a coincidence.  
  
"Can you show me where it is?"  
  
"It's supposed to be a secret."  
  
"But you aren't working down there anymore, right? Hermione messed up whatever it is you were working on?"  
  
Harry groaned, "Don't remind me. Fine, fine, I'll show you. I have to clean up anyway."  
  
"Clean up?"  
  
"Uh huh. I'm bollocks with potions, so that's what I do, I clean up."  
  
As she followed him out of the common room Lucy tried to understand how a potion figured into all this.  
  
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"How did you even find this place?" Lucy coughed as she kicked dust up along the dark and very creepy corridor she was struggling to follow Harry down.  
  
"Hermione found it when she was trying to avoid Mrs. Norris after a trip to the restricted section of the library. She's getting surprisingly good at slipping around the castle. Moaning Myrtle's bathroom was our usual spot, but you can never be sure anymore, once everyone heard how little people went in there, a lot of people started going in there. Don't ask me why, these things are a complete mystery to me. But we couldn't very well have a bunch of people lurking about, we'd get caught, so...here it is." Harry pushed a door in to the right, and Lucy almost tripped following him in, there were five steep steps that led down into the room he had forgotten to warn her about.  
  
"Oops, watch your step there."  
  
"Thanks," Lucy grumbled, reminding herself she hadn't eaten was holding shields on four people, and it would be a very bad idea to lose control of her temper now.  
  
Harry had lit the lanterns and was busy putting various bottles and papers and other bottles into one of five cauldrons that sat around the room on top of large jars.  
  
"What's with the jars?"  
  
"Oh, they held Hermione's portable fires, she didn't trust using the fireplace to brew anything, it doesn't look like its been used in the past century, might make a mess or worse, attract Mrs. Norris."  
  
"So where is the whodoeswhatsit?"  
  
Harry tugged a rug aside, revealing a trap door. "Down there, Hermione found it months and months ago. It's kind of creepy, Ron positively hates it."  
  
Lucy tugged the door open, to reveal a ladder of sorts carved into the stone wall that disappeared into the dark. She lit her wand, held her breath, and descended. After about seven feet she found herself in round chamber with a rather low ceiling. Her wand wouldn't illuminate quite all of it, but there were carvings on the walls, carvings that looked strangely familiar.  
  
As she followed a particular set down the wall, she noticed the floor. It appeard to be solid stone, but the light from her wand glinted off of a piece about 6 inches wide that didn't match the rest. The color was slightly off. As she followed it, she found the jet black stone made a perfect circle, about seven feet in diameter, in the middle of the room. She touched it, and felt a surge.  
  
It was a power circle, a circle of protection and utility, like the one on the floor in Asriel's workroom. But this was different. It wasn't active, at least not in the traditional sense; she could touch it and cross it without any problem. And this was not a workroom, or at least it didn't feel like one. As she paced the circle she noticed the carvings from the walls were also in the floor inside the circle, spiraling inward to the center...  
  
Where there appeared to be a piece missing. In the very center of the circle there was an indentation, as if someone had lifted out a circular piece of stone, about a foot in diameter and three inches thick. In the middle of the depression there was another one, but this one was familiar to Lucy. It was hemisphereical in shape, and about 5 inches in diameter, as if a sphere had been resting in the stone, half embedded in the floor, and the other half inside the missing slab. It looked like the hole in the wall the Maintainers had shown Lucy when they were examining the destroyed locus stone.  
  
But why would there be a locus stone at Hogwarts?  
  
And where the hell was it now?  
  
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**You're certain?**  
  
**Yes.**  
  
**Absolutely certain?**  
  
**Yes.**  
  
**Because, you know, you've only ever really seen the Espiritu stone and-**  
  
**It's a locus stone Faustas, or was. I have no idea where it is now, but I know it was there.**  
  
**What does that mean for this school?**  
  
**You were supposed to tell me!**  
  
**I know what it means for a normal school, Lucy, but Hogwarts was never connected to the Web of the Circle, you would have felt it the minute you set foot here, we would have sensed its presence. So whatever was in that hole was not a normal locus stone. There might not have been a stone at all, but some sort of concentrated energy...it was a very ancient method... Well it was some kind of locus, because it has wreaked havoc on the energy lines around here. If I had my way there'd be a squad of Maintainers out here within the hour to fix all this.**  
  
**And just how to you propose to bring them in, ask the headmaster?**  
  
**This is beyond you Lucy, we don't even know what went wrong.**  
  
**I know.**  
  
**You can't keep shields up on those kids forever, you know that, you must be feeling that.**  
  
**I know.**  
  
**So you have a better idea than bringing in the Maintainers to fix it?**  
  
**And blow the low profile I've been trying to maintain here? The second the Maintainers desheild around here they are going to be hit with the Hogwarts Sick, and then they'll be no good to fix the problem, and I will have to go explain this thing to some council, and they'll never let be come back next year, they'll send me to Siberia to do sampling and I'll never be tan again.**  
  
She heard Faustas's mental sigh. **The Hogwarts Sick?**  
  
**Abraham told me about it. That nausea I get whenever I sink too deep into the energy pool around here. He felt it when he was putting me through the final trial last year, but he didn't need to dredge up any large pools of energy from around here, he could pull from his school. But Maintainers don't do that, right?**  
  
**If they did, they would disrupt the natural flows of energy around their home school. As a rule, power of that magnitude is drawn from the area being treated, and Maintainers almost always use large power resources on restoration projects.**  
  
**They can't do that around here.**  
  
**Not unless you help them.**  
  
**What on earth could a 2nd year Master do to help them?**  
  
**Well, querida, you don't become incapacitated from the "Howarts Sick" do you?**  
  
**I get sick enough, I hurl almost every time I touch that thing.**  
  
**If you can take it, so can they.**  
  
**They would be digging a lot deeper than I have gone, and did you not hear the rest of what I said?**  
  
**What do you want me to do chica? I want to bring in the Circle, you say no, so who than? Don't tell me you can handle it yourself, because you can't.**  
  
**I need to find out what happened.**  
  
**I agree, that would be nice.**  
  
**I need to find Hermione.**  
  
The conversation came an end as Lucy arrived outside Hagrid's hut just in time for the beginning of class. Harry and Ron were standing off to the left with Dean and Neville. Hermione was huddled with Lavender and Parvati, her head tucked down to shelter from the wind.  
  
The wind. It was howling something fierce, and large thunderhead clouds were sweeping across the lake toward the castle. It was the early afternoon, but if you didn't know that you would have thought it was dusk. Lucy eyed the approaching storm with the Sight. Even a novice would have been able to tell this was no natural storm, but a magical one, created when an elemental change so great has occured that the only way for the energy to discharge is in violent weather. She pulled her cloak a little closer around her, gave Bet a weak smile where she stood with the Slytherins, in the wind shadow of Hagrid's house, and made her way over to Hermione.  
  
"I need to talk to you."  
  
Hermione was busy glaring at Harry and Ron. "Not now Lucy, this really isn't a good time."  
  
Now Lucy was starting to get angry. She had learned that the special relationship the trio had was something that no one else would ever be able to penetrate, but they could be so self-absorbed at times that it drove her mad. She spun Hermione back around to face the lake and pointed to the sky.  
  
"See that? THAT is not going to pass through like the others, there will be another one behind it, and another one behind THAT, until we find a way to fix whatever it is you did. Now talk!"  
  
Lavender and Parvati took a step back from Lucy, who pulled Hermione aside.  
  
Hermione struggled against the arm. "Let go of my arm Lucy, there's no need to worry that I'll run away."  
  
Lucy dropped it. "What happened today? In the secret little room, the one Harry showed me, what happened?"  
  
"Harry showed you?"  
  
Lucy rolled her eyes. "I made him, now could you please forget your little fight and concentrate, this is kind of an emergency."  
  
As if to emphasize her point, at that instant a bolt of lightening lit up the sky over the lake, followed sharply by a deafening crack of thunder.  
  
Hagrid emerged from the forest, a bit surprised to see them. "What ere ya doin here? Don't ya see the sky? Get back up to the school and be smart about it, no class today I have too much to tie down!"  
  
Needing no further prompting, the students raced for the castle as another lightening strike over the forest punctuated the meaning of Hagrid's words.  
  
Lucy pulled Hermione aside once they were safely indoors. "Come on, you're taking me back to the room and you are showing me what happened."  
  
Hermoine, a little spooked, nodded, and the girls quietly diverged from the flow of Slytherin students chattering happily back to their common room.  
  
"Well?" She asked, when they were standing in the strange little room again.  
  
Hermione sighed, "I didn't know what was going to happen."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"There used to be a round tablet of stone, in the floor, just there. It was red stone, covered with writing."  
  
Lucy had a growing fear of apprehension. "What happened to it, what happened today?"  
  
"I picked it up, turned it over...and it shattered."  
  
Lucy had no idea what that meant, at the moment she was more concerned about a possible locus stone.  
  
"What about the indentation underneath it?"  
  
Hermione shook her head. "That was empty when I picked it up today."  
  
Lucy paused, "Why did you remove the tablet?"  
  
Hermione nodded. "I was trying to translate it, and I had finished copying the top, but the writing ran along the sides and onto the bottom. It took me a while, but today I finally succeeded in turning it over."  
  
"You hadn't done that before today?"  
  
Hermione shook her head. "I was too busy trying to make out the top side, but then I decided it would be easier if I had the whole text, so I pried it up, I had just copied the back, when it shattered. In my hands, cracks started to spread all over and it just, dissolved."  
  
Lucy tried to take it all in, and leaned against the wall.  
  
"Lucy, what's going on?"  
  
Lucy shrugged, "I really have no clue, but the energy around here is completely out of control. That storm building outside is just one of the affects. I have no idea what to do about it...but I'd like a look at that translation."  
  
Hermione nodded. "I keep it locked up in the trunk in my room, come on."  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&  
  
There were several pages. Hermione had first sketched exactly as she saw, and then copied down the letters straight out on several long sheets of parchment. Lucy ran her fingertips over the writing. It looked familiar, but old. It was not Quechua, not Spanish or Aramaic...but she had seen some of those same characters before. The characters had been in stone, on the back of an ancient mirror. Seamus' long forgotton Christmas present. Those inscriptions had given the mirror its power, Lucy remembered that much about ancient things. What had these done?  
  
"Can I take these?" Knowing it was not really a request, Hermione nodded.  
  
"What's happened Lucy?"  
  
She paused on her way out of the door, "I'm not sure. But I'm going to find out."  
  
The wind was howling through every chink in the castle, causing nasty drafts to turn the hallways icy cold. Lucy hurried as fast as she could to the BA room, grabbed the mirror from the mantle, and made her way to Asriel's workroom. She poured through the notebooks, knowing he had one in here on the ancient tongues of this region, she had read this stuff before.  
  
Brythonic, the script was Brythonic, or some form of it. Heedless of the hour or whatever it was she knew she was supposed to be doing, Lucy took out a clean notebook, and stretched out on the floor with Hermione and Asriel's note before her to begin the painstaking process of translation.  
  
It took hours, Lucy's neck and shoulders screamed with the uncomfortable position they had been forced into, but the stormclouds building over the lake and the gales she knew were buffeting Gryffindor Tower as she worked kept her awake and alert. Progress was made slower by the fact that Asriel had kept his notes in a variety of languages, and Lucy had the luck of finding one of the few books that had not been taken down in Spanish or Portuguese, or any Romance language, for that matter. It was Quechua, the bane of her existence, and her lack of proficiency in THAT language meant she had to quadruple check every phrase she did.  
  
She had completed half a page, and read it over to find it made absolutely no structural sense. She stared at the heap of papers before her, she was working in the middle of the room, and documents radiated away from her in all directions. The effect was enough to make her dizzy.  
  
Dizzy...round, that was why the translation didn't make sense, it was written circularly. She scrambled to find Hermione's sketch of the script as it was written on the disk, and began to fit the translation as closely as possible to the physical layout of the Brythonic text. The line breaks in Hermione's straight copy had been in the wrong place, she had started her text in what was really the middle. Lucy found the beginning, and began to read...  
  
"Holy shit," she gathered up the papers, shoved them in her satchel, and ran from Don Asriel's room as fast as she could manage.  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&  
  
"You were puttering about with this stuff for quite awhile, weren't you Hermione?" Lucy burst back into the bedroom and shut the door roughly. Without giving Hermione a chance to answer she tossed the papers on the bed.  
  
"I translated it, all of it, and then re-translated. That room, all of it, forms the basis of the wards that surround Hogwarts. So far I've figured out that whatever makes the place LOOK different to Muggles has not been affected, but that could be because it is an illusion and not an active repellent. THAT PLACE you've been poking about in is another story. I went back, there are spells carved all over the walls in a half a dozen languages. And there wasn't any dust on them, someone has been poking at them, so spill, how long have you been fiddling around in there?"  
  
Hermione ran her hands through her hair. "Over the Easter holidays, we needed a new room to work in, I stumbled across that one-"  
  
Lucy glared at her.  
  
"Fine. I knew about the room, I mean, I knew it existed, I wasn't trying to hurt anyone, I thought I might be able to find something there that I could use to help Harry...the boys didn't know of course, they thought I was just going to use the space to work on the animagus project-"  
  
"The what?"  
  
Hermione groaned. "The bane of my existence. Harry's father, and his godfather became animagus when they were at Hogwarts, to help a friend. Harry has been obsessed ever since he found out about it. He wanted to try it so badly, but he and Ron just couldn't make it work, so finally they asked me. I couldn't say no to that face, so I told them I would help.  
  
" I did the research, I poured through the restricted section, I experimented, but I kept coming back to them with bad news. I mean, there is a reason why most people are not animagi, it is hard to do! We would row and make up and then we would try something else and get to a certain point where I would put my foot down because it was too dangerous and then we would row again. We decided to stop, or at least, I thought we had. Then I found out that they hadn't, they had gone on without me, they were thisclose to nearly killing themselves! It was partly my fault, I had found the spell room. They knew I was interested, but when we stopped working on the potion, curiosity got the best of me. First I just looked, but then I started to poke around, try to look under tablets that were clearly written on both sides, it was a compulsion, I HAD to."  
  
Lucy was speechless. But the animagus potion story did explain a good deal about hysterical crying and crabby Hermione and sulky Ron and Harry and loud shouting matches between them.  
  
"You didn't start to really fiddle till Easter break though?"  
  
Hermione nodded, "It was the only period when I had enough time apart from school work."  
  
That corresponded to the time that Rasheph and Bet had said the strange weather, which Lucy was certain was magically altered weather, had started up. No one had been working weather magic, Hermione had unconsciously been shifting something so powerful that it had changed the energy concentration of the area, and the weather had resulted, a means to restore equilibrium, and a violent one at that.  
  
A clap of thunder outside brought her back to the current situation, and the other serious ramification of the dissolved tablet. She began to talk fast, explaining to Hermione about the mage-storms, and about what happened when the tablet dissolved.  
  
Hermione stared at her open-mouthed. "It's impossible."  
  
"It's happening, and we need to stop it fast."  
  
"We?"  
  
"Well, you did it, and frankly you're the only I know of around here smart enough to fix it."  
  
"I'm still not convinced."  
  
Lucy groaned, "I don't have time to convince you Hermione, I don't have any books on hand to back this up, but THAT," Lucy threw an arm toward the window, which, in perfect dramatic timing, lit up with and accompanying clap of thunder, "is only going to get worse, I have a limited amount of time before I pass out to fix this and I don't think I can do it myself. But I think you would agree that this is the sort of thing that needs to be kept as quiet as possible?"  
  
Hermione nodded. "I'm sorry, it's just...we need to see Dumbledore, now."  
  
Lucy nodded, "I think I ought to pick some stuff up first."  
  
Fifteen minutes later, after a sprint through the castle to recover the ancient mirror Seamus had given her, Lucy was standing outside the entrance to Dumbledore's office. Faustas had given her plenty of grief about the fact that he had suggested this hours ago, Lucy told him to shut up.  
  
Professor McGonagall was by their side, mostly because Hermione thought that this warranted the use of the chain of command. The deputy headmistress spoke the password, and the girls followed her up. Lucy was under strict instructions from Hermione not to say a word if possible, which didn't bother her in the least. The less she spoke, the less likely it was that Dumbledore, McGonagall, or even Hermione find out about the BA. Her part was to explain how the disappearance of the tablet had affected her "senses," Hermione thought that was an important point, and a surprising one since it indicated that some kind of western magic had been involved. Lucy was impressed; Hermione had recovered herself completely and seemed totally without fear. Had Lucy not been shielded as tightly as possible, and shielding four other people at distance, even her weak empathetic sense would have told her that the prefect was terrified.  
  
They followed McGonagall in, and remained standing in front of the headmaster's desk.  
  
"How may I help you Miss Granger, Miss Montero?"  
  
"Something rather serious has occurred, sir," Hermione said clearly, in a voice that only quivered a bit.  
  
"Indeed?" The headmaster remained unconcerned.  
  
Hermione went on to explain, in a slightly altered version, which left out any mention of the secret animagus project, her discovery of the tablet and its subsequent destruction.  
  
"While regrettable, Miss Granger, that was clearly an accident."  
  
Hermione sighed in frustration, "But you see sir, Lucy translated what I had copied from the tablet, and we discovered sir that it had an very important purpose."  
  
To Lucy's bewilderment, the headmaster seemed slightly amused, and not in the least perturbed. "And what would that be, Miss Montero?"  
  
Lucy laid her translation before him. "It was the anchoring point for the ancient Hogwarts wards, sir. The magical barriers that prevent anyone from gating or apperating in and out of the school. It must have been set very long ago sir, because the practice of tying a spell of that magnitude to a physical object-"  
  
"Has not been practiced in a very long time. But it had its uses, you see Miss Montero. The people who designed those wards knew their effectiveness would only last if it was impossible for them to be tampered with. So they were hidden. They needed the spell to last as long as the school stood, so it had to be based on something that would endure, in this case, a peculiar type of stone. Surely you, Miss Montero, are familiar with the idea of a stone being the focus of magical energy?"  
  
Lucy nodded, "Its a little like a locus stone, sir, but our locus stones don't create, they are not a source, only a focal point that connects us to a web of energy."  
  
"And what makes you think that Miss Granger's tablet is any different?"  
  
Lucy went to speak, but found she had nothing to refute that with. She stared for a moment at the headmaster's face.  
  
"You knew already."  
  
Dumbledore nodded, "The moment the tablet was crushed."  
  
"But why didn't you-"  
  
"Tell anyone? You of all people should understand that, Miss Montero. The importance of guarding information?"  
  
Lucy didn't answer Hermione's look, but nodded as Dumbledore continued.  
  
"I could not predict when the wards would fall, but I knew they were being sought out, and not by the accidental discovery of Miss Granger. For didn't you find it odd that you seemed the first person in centuries to have found that room? While you are one of the cleverest students to grace Hogwarts' halls in many years, surely you were wise enough not to believe you were the only one clever enough to discover it?"  
  
Hermione nodded, "I had wondered how no one had ever found it before."  
  
"The answer is because it was guarded by a series of illusions and protections that relied on ignorance. If no one knew that the room existed, no one would ever find it. For centuries the entrance could have remained uncovered, it could have had a sign written on it in bright red letters, and no one would have noticed it. And no one ever did. The room could only be discovered by those who knew it existed, and had some idea of where it was, and even then, it would take time."  
  
"But I didn't know it was there, and I didn't know where it was!"  
  
Dumbledore smiled, "No, you didn't. But I imagine that by the time you discovered the room, most of the protections and guards had been worn away by the search efforts of those who had a vague idea of what was in the room, and where it was. You simply got there first, and I, for one, and glad that you did."  
  
Hermione was confused, "Sir?"  
  
Dumbledore sighed. "We have had, unfortunately, some visitors to the school this past year that I could not keep out, not if I didn't want to have to leave for a time and to be honest, I was far too busy to really argue. I regret that," he looked at Lucy as he spoke, "I sincerely regret that. The result was some 60 odd students in my charge were bullied and harassed and scrutinized through no fault of their own and at the urging of the Ministry of Magic."  
  
Lucy's forehead wrinkled, "What does that have to do with this?"  
  
"I'm getting to that, Miss Montero. After the incident on Halloween, there was a request for further investigation. I believed, knew, that any further prying would turn up nothing; no students of mine were planning an attack on the Ministry in the near future, so I permitted our visitors access through the end of the term. They appeared to be doing just as they said, looking into the habits and behavior of the students. I didn't tell the students, as Miss Montero will tell you, because I thought any protest on their part would give fuel to the delusion that they were a threat. I did not wholly anticipate how they would respond, and, in retrospect, much might have been avoided had I been forthcoming. But the Ministry wished it to be secret and such is the penalty for secrecy." Another look at Lucy.  
  
"But what they were looking for did not turn out to be a secret group of terrorist students bent on destruction. As became cleared after the start of the spring term, what the visitors had been looking for was the very room that Hermione found. For, to look for the room, and in the right place, begins to wear away the wards, they were designed that way so that the original creators could adjust them. Those creators depended on the fact that no one would know about the room once they were gone as a means to protect it. And no one came looking for it knew the truth about it until a few months ago. They wore down the guards to the point that a sensitive and observant witch, who WAS looking for a hidden room, if not that room in particular, the desire was enough to allow Hermione to find it."  
  
Hermione nodded, in that slow way she did when she was processing things, "And the tablet?"  
  
"Was not meant to be touched, picked up, or disconnected from the room in which it was placed, and when it was, it lost its energy and dissolved, dissolving the spell. The stone in that room is fused to the stone that forms the castle all the way down to the bedrock of the earth. Should Hogwarts collapse, that column would still stand."  
  
"Like a locus stone," Lucy said softly.  
  
"Exactly so, Miss Montero. But without the stone."  
  
"So this can be fixed?" Hermione said hopefully.  
  
"Yes, Miss Granger. Which is why I am particularly grateful that Miss Montero is with you. For I have notified and expect soon the arrival of the people I know that can reset the wards, but I have the feeling that is not the entire scope of the problem." He raised his eyebrows toward Lucy.  
  
Lucy had forgotten that Dumbledore had traces of Gifts, probably more than traces, he simply did not practice. But anyone with a partially open channel would have felt the impact. It did not seem to be bothering him much.  
  
"I felt something initially, and then it faded away, but I suspect I am not understanding the entire scope as you would," he stated, in response to the question in her eyes.  
  
"Whatever the wards were, they must have been very old, because their destruction has wreaked havoc, to use simple terms, on the flow of energy. It's painful, to be frank, sir, and I don't know how to fix it."  
  
"I suspect that is due to the fact that the wards were built with a combination of eastern and western magic."  
  
Lucy stared at him.  
  
"They must be very old."  
  
"Quite, Miss Montero, for that room is in what would have been the very first castle Hogwarts, before the additions let it grow to what it is now. The wards have been set from the very first days of the school, when the outside world was a dangerous place and, as today, not all wizards were good. The illusion that protects the castle from Muggle eyes was set much later, in a different fashion, and therefore-"  
  
"Remains unaffected," Hermione finished.  
  
"Correct, Miss Granger. Now, Miss Montero, since you are the representative of your circle, what would you suggest?"  
  
Lucy put her hand in her pocket, and curved her fingers around the mirror Seamus had given her. "A call for help, sir, from the Maintainers."  
  
"Refresh me, if you will, on who they are."  
  
"Well, its a guild, really, the Maintainers Guild, they fix things, put things back they way they were, energy lines and such, they would restore them back to the way they were before the wards went down."  
  
"It seems a great deal of natural energy went into the wards then."  
  
Lucy nodded, understanding. "They don't study eastern magic sir, but if western magic was a part of the wards then they would certainly help rebuild them."  
  
Dumbledore smiled, "We shall see. As it is I have a very old friend from the Druidic School in the north that is on his way, we'll see what he can do before we put your Guild in the compromising position of working for the eastern circle, and for me in particular."  
  
Lucy said nothing to the Look, but was relieved. It was going to be hard enough to persuade the guild to send Maintainers to this place, especially since these were the people who had seen first hand the destruction at Espiritu and Chadwicks. She was going to have to count on their unfailing sense of responsibility to heal the land to get them up here, she didn't want to try and get them to help protect the school as well.  
  
"Thank you, sir."  
  
"How soon will your friends be arriving Lucy?"  
  
"As soon as they assemble I guess, they should be able to come here directly since the barrier is down."  
  
Dumbledore nodded, "It might be best, don't you think, for them to perform their work before we reset the guards?"  
  
Lucy nodded again.  
  
"Good, good. Well then, I won't keep you any longer."  
  
Lucy and Hermione turned to go.  
  
"Oh Miss Granger, if you would, I have a few more questions for you."  
  
Hermione paled just a bit, but gave Lucy a grim smile before turning back to the room. For her part, Lucy bolted for the stairs as fast as she could. She wasn't surprised Hermione was staying, she doubted Dumbledore hadn't noticed her dancing around why she was looking for a hidden room. 


	22. Chapter Twenty Two: Help

Chapter Twenty Two: Help  
  
Lucy found the BA assembled when she returned through the bathroom entrance.  
  
"Any luck?" Lynx looked up from where he was cramming for the upcoming O.W.L's.  
  
Lucy nodded, took a seat at the table, and placed the mirror in the middle.  
  
"We finally get to learn what it does, then?" Bet perked up.  
  
"It's a very old communication mirror, and we are going to use it to call some help to clean up this mess."  
  
"How can you work anything with all that racket the moment you unsheild?" Rasheph peered over her shoulder at the mirror.  
  
"That's what this is for. You can call through it without desheilding, it's activated almost automatically," she picked it up and held it in her hand, running her fingers over the raised runes on the back. There, that one, the ancient seal of the Maintainers, from before they carried that name, she pressed it, and it sank a few millimeters into the stone. She turned her attention to the runes on the face that ran around the edge. It was uncanny, how she could funnel energy into the correct sequence of runes without the need to drop shields. The runes began to glow as she activated them in the correct sequence to broadcast "urgent help needed" to the destination, which was the principle Guild House of the Maintainers in Istanbul. It would be someone on the "safe" end of the mirror who would activate the connection.  
  
"Now what?"  
  
Lucy sighed, "Now, we wait."  
  
It took 20 minutes, Lucy had expected a lag, because this was not the most conventional means of communication and it may have taken awhile for someone on the other end to realize what was going on. So it was as Rasheph was about to triumph in his second game of gin that a voice rang out through the room, "Hello?"  
  
The flat stone on the mirror's face wavered, and cleared to reveal the image of a man in his mid fifties wearing a bemused expression staring back at her. Lucy scuttled over and tilted the mirror to bring her face into viewing.  
  
"Yes, my name is Lucy Montero, from the Espiritu school, and I need the help of a maintainer team as soon as possible."  
  
The man raised an eyebrow. "Well Lucy, my name is Jardis, formerly of the Congo Conservatory, and none of our taps have revealed anything disturbed at Espiritu since the wards went back up in December."  
  
Lucy shook her head in frustration, "No, I meant that I have a problem HERE, at Hogwarts."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"I'm at an eastern school of wizardry in the north of England, there has been a major disturbance of ancient magic that has left the energy lines under the area in total chaos, it isn't even safe for Masters and below to deshield for very long."  
  
Jardis pondered that for a moment. "If it's in the eastern circle miss-"  
  
"Since when have borders ever hampered the business of the maintainers?" Lucy countered.  
  
That was the button to push, for Maintainers were stubbornly proud of their ability to fix anything anywhere, no matter the danger.  
  
Jardis took in a few more details of the situation, tilted his head to one side and scratched behind his right ear. "It'd be a rebuilding, sounds like, all that energy goin back into a ward has left the ley lines to trickle down to nothin. Need to scoop out some new riverbeds and flush the whole thing through. Not so bad really, I'll be sending you a team of 6 in 30 minutes."  
  
True to his word, 30 minutes later, just as Lynx had returned from grabbing them snacks from the kitchen, there was a tingling in the air, and the four students turned around to see 6 figures, robed in black cloaks with the distinctive red and yellow trim, standing in a triangular formation like a set of bowling pins in front of the table.  
  
The figure in front stepped forward and pushed back its hood to reveal a smooth ebony head and eyes so brown Lucy swore they were black.  
  
"Which one of you is Lucy Montero?" His gaze swept from Bet to Lucy, but lingered on Lucy even before she timidly stepped forward.  
  
"Thank you so much for-"  
  
He held up a hand, "We fix, it is what we do. I am Virgil, team leader. Behind me to the left is Tess, to the right is Mercelo, and those three in the back are Tuck, Huck, and Puck."  
  
Bet giggled at bit, but covered it with a cough.  
  
"There's a mage storm outside," Mercelo commented.  
  
"And the nearest energy system uncorrupted by eastern magic is several kilometers away," Tess added.  
  
"There's a dry riverbed underneath the magical energy swamp."  
  
"It would be impossible to guarantee that the energy would not be leached back out again and the bed dry up like it did before."  
  
"It would still be more stable than what is out there right now. This is a system already adapted to the mingling of energies."  
  
Virgil silenced what looked to be a growing debate between Tuck, Huck, and Puck with a look.  
  
"Our first priority is, as always, to stabilize. If this storm builds for much longer it will be too strong to work under. We restore the riverbed, which will provide an outlet for the energy freed by the fall of the wards. Once the flow is established we dissipate the storm by leaching the energy away."  
  
"Virg, we do major weatherworking up here the Guild's bound to want to send more people up..." Puck made a face.  
  
"Not if we already have a master here to lend a hand," Virgil caught Lucy in a piercing gaze.  
  
"But I can't deshield, I can't even mindspeek right now-"  
  
"As soon as the normal energy flow is restored your channels will no longer be flooded with raw energy and you will be able to deshield as normal. Then you can See for the weather workers. It would speed things up tremendously."  
  
Tuck shifted uneasily, "Even so Virg, with only one Seer-"  
  
"She can See," Lucy piped up, pointing to Bet.  
  
"I can?"  
  
"You will."  
  
"They're gifted?" Tess blurted out. Virgil, however, didn't seem surprised in the least, he almost looked like he expected this.  
  
Lucy grinned, "They're my students. Come to think of it, they can all ground and center, so it wouldn't take long to get the boys to to start looking at the immediate area through the Sight for you, Bet and I could do distance."  
  
"In that case," Virgil smiled, "We'd better get to work."  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&  
  
Lynx and Rasheph had "Seen" before, when Lucy had been showing them how to ground and shield, so it only took a quick review for them to understand what the Maintainers wanted. To "See" the energy fields around the land, essentially it meant seeing things in strange, pulsing colors, which would enable to Maintainers to do the weather wizardry more quickly.  
  
But before Lucy and Bet could teach Lynx and Rasheph, they had to wait for Virgil and his team to fix the energy mess. To Lucy's surprise, Virgil didn't want to be taken to the hidden room where the tablet had been, but instead requested that they be lead outside. The four students looked at each other, a bit anxious. The Maintainer group wasn't exactly designed to fit in.  
  
But to their surprise, as they proceeded to the nearest exit, no one so much as glanced in their direction, indeed, they didn't seem to see them at all.  
  
"Are you doing that?" Rasheph asked Virgil.  
  
Mercelo replied, "I am. As a rule, Maintainers are not seen unless they wish to be. It is relatively easy to extend that to you four as well."  
  
"So if they can't see us, how come no one walks into us?" Lynx challenged.  
  
"They simply feel the need to walk to either side."  
  
"You compel them," Bet concluded.  
  
"In a way," Tess replied.  
  
Lucy had stopped listening as she pushed open the door to the covered walkway, and stared out between the pillars at the raging tempest.  
  
"You want to go out there?"  
  
Virgil raised the hood on his cloak, as the others did the same, and nodded. "There's far too much going on in there that I don't want to deal with. These people have lost most of the connection to the land." He smiled down at the students' dubious looks. "Don't worry, we'll be quite all right. Wait here, we'll come for you when you are needed."  
  
Without another word, Virgil led his team out the door, across the open courtyard, and down the path to the lake.  
  
Lucy shuddered, and the students pulled back to sit on the floor by the doors and wait.  
  
Several hands of Exploding Snap, which Lynx never seemed to travel without, later, the door burst open and wind poured into the hall.  
  
Tess was there, sliding back her hood and shaking her hair out, but not in the least perturbed by the lake forming under her feet on the stone.  
  
She nodded at Lucy, "Try it then."  
  
Lucy unshielded, and found that the violence was gone. Her head was fine, she felt nothing for a change since everyone else around her was shielded, three of them by her. She dropped the shields from Seamus, Lynx, Bet, and Rasheph.  
  
"Wow," Rasheph rubbed his head in relief before restoring his own shielding. "Oh, Lucy, thanks for-"  
  
"Don't mention it. Now Lynx, you with me and Bet with Rasheph, lets get the basics down so we can clean up the mess."  
  
It didn't take long, Lynx and Rasheph caught on quickly, and it was good that they did, for almost as soon as Lucy and Lynx finished the door burst open again and Tuck, Huck, and Puck appeared.  
  
"We'd better get going, lighting struck near this giant willow tree and I swear to heaven it looked like the tree tried to strike back."  
  
"Whomping Willow," muttered Bet as the students scrambled to their feet.  
  
"You," Huck pointed to Rasheph, then Lynx, "and you, with me." The three boys headed out into the rain, leaving Lucy and Bet hoping they would be given a dry assignment.  
  
"Don't look so smug," Puck grinned wickedly, "you two are next, with us, let's go."  
  
They trudged out into the storm, there was no sign of Tess, Virgil, or Mercelo, and when Bet asked about them Tuck just shrugged, "They're busy."  
  
They followed in silence around the castle, until they were at the edge of the cliff, overlooking the lake. Lucy and Bet huddled against the wall for protection, the two Maintainers seemed unaffected by the weather and stared off in the distance for some time before trotting back over. The wind whipped up coming around this side, and Puck had to shout to be heard.  
  
"I need you to Watch the system to the North while I drain it. When that happens, the system to the South is going to break. You need to tell me in how many pieces, and which way they are going. You," he turned to Bet, "are going to work back-up with Tuck, watching for aftershocks. Just tell him exactly what you see, so he doesn't have to lose focus and look for himself. If we're lucky, he won't have to do anything at all."  
  
Bet nodded, and took a seat with a grimace and a squelch on the soggy earth. Bet worked better in trance. Tuck stood behind her. Lucy walked out to the edge of the cliff with Puck, and hoped to hell he knew what he was doing, a good gust and they would both end up in the lake.  
  
She felt a mental "nudge" which was a polite way of Puck asking for her mental link. She settled her breathing and focused far to the North, locked in the location of the system, and passed everything on to Puck.  
  
Since they were working at a longer range, she had no idea what was happening, the rain at Hogwarts continued to pour. But she Watched and waited, as the Northern system dimmed, and slowed, and eventually trickled into nothing. That was her cue to Look to the South. She followed the ball of power to where it sat, and saw it splinter into three cells, one heading North, one heading West, and the rest holding to the South. It looked like Puck had his work cut out for him.  
  
It seemed like hours that Lucy focused, waiting, until finally she felt Puck release her. She sped up her breathing, and opened her eyes.  
  
At first she thought nothing had changed, it was still dark. It was only when she saw the stars above that she realized that it was now night. The storm was gone.  
  
At that moment Virgil came swaggering up. "So, everything go smoothly?"  
  
"Well enough," Tuck responded. "Dumped a lot of the water over London, didn't think they would notice."  
  
Puck grinned, "Pretty routine, although storms picked up speed around here faster than usual."  
  
Virgil nodded, "Fed off the energy currents from the school. Tess had a devil of a time working around those. She and Mercelo are just finishing up a few routine procedures."  
  
Bet and Lucy stared blankly, not really having understood a word since 'London.'  
  
"It's over then?" Lucy looked up hopefully.  
  
Virgil nodded, "For our part, this place is completely safe, energetically speaking," Lucy wasn't sure she liked the look he gave her.  
  
She didn't ponder it long, as just then Lynx and Rasheph came trotting over with Huck.  
  
"I'm starving," the Hufflepuff moaned.  
  
"What time is it?"  
  
"Dinner time," Rasheph replied.  
  
Bet's stomach growled, and she blushed furiously.  
  
"We won't keep you long, then," Virgil smiled and led the way down the hall. When he succeeded in leading them directly to the entrance of the BA room off the kitchen hallway, Lucy was beyond impressed, he'd only seen the way once before, and he'd been answering their questions practically the whole time.  
  
Virgil took a seat, his team remained standing. Lucy sat on the table next to Bet while the boys took chairs.  
  
"I must confess, we aren't used to leaving a site this way," he spoke, slowly, glancing around as he did so.  
  
"What way is that?" Lucy swung her feet, a nervous tick she'd always had.  
  
"This place isn't safe. I told you energetically speaking it was fine, and that was the truth. But something very old has been disturbed and there is no telling what the far reaching effects of that will be, especially the MAGICAL impact."  
  
"Dumbledore said he'd reset everything."  
  
"I don't doubt he will reset everything he knows was in place, but what if more was damaged than meets the eye?"  
  
Bet shook her head, "Dumbledore knows everything that goes on at Hogwarts."  
  
Virgil paused, his gaze falling to the mirror, and then back to Bet, "I sincerely hope so, since I don't like leaving you four here in a place that's still dangerous. It is not what we do. We eliminate the danger. But I can only fight- fix, what I can See."  
  
Lynx sat forward in his chair. "Dumbledore wouldn't let anything happen here, it's the safest place in the wizarding world."  
  
"No place is safe in the wizarding world right now," Virgil muttered, but his eyes returned to the mirror. He stood, and picked it up off the table, "You don't mind, do you?"  
  
Lucy shook her head.  
  
"It's remarkable, no one has seen one of these in years, the secrets of their construction were all but lost..." Virgil stopped speaking, and just stared at the mirror for a full minute.  
  
Which then stretched into two, and then three, until finally Huck coughed.  
  
"Listen, Virgil, I know you love this stuff, but-"  
  
"We could use this."  
  
Rasheph turned his gaze away from the door to the kitchens. "Use it for what?"  
  
"A warning system, a way to keep an eye on you all, on this place."  
  
Lynx turned to Lucy expectantly, but she placed her hands out in front of her, "Don't ask me, he's the professional."  
  
"I could keep it open, keep it active. It would just mean tapping the nearest ley line-"  
  
"Diverting a tiny piece of the energy flow from the line to the mirror, and if that kept the mirror open..." Tess smiled.  
  
Mercelo seemed to understand. "If that thing was open, it would be connected to the Guild, and if it was drawing off the ley line, it would be connected to here...is that legal?"  
  
Lucy looked from one ominous hooded figure to the other, "Is what legal?"  
  
Puck took pity and put a hand on her shoulder, "What our fearless leader here is suggesting is basically jury-rigging you a connection to the Web."  
  
If Puck's hand hadn't of been on her shoulder, Lucy would have fallen off the table.  
  
"It's never been tried..."  
  
"Because there hasn't been a mirror like this lying around anywhere in recent memory. It's just an alert system, not like the kids could draw any power from it, and they aren't advanced enough to try any way, well, maybe her...but they could only draw from Espiritu and that reservoir is untappable, without anyone at the school itself it doesn't exist, so there isn't any danger."  
  
Lynx raised his hand, "Um, question..."  
  
But Bet had followed. "They want to keep a connection between us and the rest of them, the Circle, you know, Lucy's type people," Tuck rolled his eyes at that, but Bet didn't see. "They can use the Mirror to do it, so, if we were in here and anything happened, we could tell them, right?" She looked to Virgil for approval.  
  
He nodded, "And since the ley line feeds into the energy bed, if anything like this mess every happens again, we'll know about it. We could tell the higher ups, should they ever find out, that it was a necessary measure for long term observation of a previously undocumented energy system." He seemed enormously pleased with himself.  
  
Tuck shrugged, "Why not then? Fire it up and lets be on our way."  
  
It took less than ten minutes for the team to force the mirror open, channel a ley line to it, set it for wherever in Guild Headquarters they wanted it directed to, and stabilize the whole thing. Lucy was terribly impressed for the thousandth time that day.  
  
Virgil nodded, "I feel better leaving you with a way out of sorts. Actually, we might be able to get that thing-"  
  
"Enough Virg! This is going beyond duty and into one of your blasted hobbies. If you want to play with the pretty sparkly you can do it on your day off. We're going to be late!"  
  
Lucy couldn't be positive, but it looked like the tall man flushed. "Mercelo is right, we have work to be done. If you ever need us, we're just a shout away."  
  
The team assembled in the triangle formation they had arrived in, and after a wink from Puck in the back, they vanished.  
  
'Well," Lynx hopped off the table, "Thank you for that informative lesson Lucy, it was fascinating, really, but now I am going to attend to some pressing matters of my own."  
  
He and Rasheph were instantly jostling each other at the door for the opportunity to escape to dinner.  
  
Bet smiled and waited as Lucy placed the Mirror on the mantle above the fire, and covered it with one of the polishing rags, obtained during a long ago detention cleaning for Snape, that she had left in the room.  
  
"Hey Luce, he said something I didn't quite understand."  
  
Lucy turned around, amused, "Just ONE thing, Bet?"  
  
Bet grinned, "Well, one in particular. He said he didn't like leaving the FOUR of us here. Was he mistaken? I mean, if they were going to take anyone away it would have been you, right?"  
  
Lucy grinned and shook her head. She hadn't missed that remark, but had been facing Virgil at the time, so Bet hadn't seen the proud glow on her face. "Nope. See, what he understood from the moment he came in here is that we're not four misfit students. We're a school. We're Espiritu. The largest current assembly of Espiritu mages on Earth, in fact. He was concerned for ALL the members, not just me."  
  
Bet smiled, "Oh, that's nice, isn't it?"  
  
Lucy grinned, "Not as nice as dinner." 


	23. Chapter Twenty Three: We Shall Overcome

Chapter Twenty Three: We Shall Overcome  
  
Lucy didn't remember much of dinner, she didn't remember much of walking back to the Tower, and she didn't remember much of getting into bed, although she assumed the next morning she had done it all without assistance, seeing as she was still wearing her shoes when she woke up.  
  
She looked out the window for any sign of Faustas, who liked to exercise in the early morning air before anyone was awake to notice, but she neither saw nor felt him. He had left at the same time as Virgil's group to "handle" something back west, which usually meant he wanted to meet with someone in Peru. It was always Circle stuff that did not concern her, and after receiving a detailed account of the first such visit, Lucy didn't think she had the strength to stay awake through another play by play of boring meetings with very little accomplished.  
  
It didn't really matter, he'd be back soon enough.  
  
Hermione, as usual, was already awake and Lavender, as usual, was not. Lucy thought the better of slamming her trunk lid closed; Lavender's hexing accuracy had improved remarkably since she had broken up with her latest boyfriend.  
  
As she came down the stairs she was pondering whether it would be considered a bit obsessive if she stopped into the BA room for just a second before breakfast to check on their new hook-up to the Web. True, she had checked it yesterday, but it was a new hookup and –  
  
In the midst of her inner debate she had quite neglected to look where she was going, which was most unfortunate for whomever it was she collided with at the base of the stairs, knocking them both to the ground.  
  
"Sorry," she began as she accepted a hand and was helped up.  
  
"I'd say we're even, but we wouldn't be," Seamus replied.  
  
"Oh," Lucy wasn't sure what to say. Seamus didn't look very comfortable either.  
  
"Listen, Lucy I'm-"  
  
"THERE you are! Luce, hurry up, come with me!"  
  
Lucy found herself being torn away by a remarkably strong Maria Moray.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
"Hurry up! Everyone else is already there, Warren says we have to hurry!"  
  
Lucy could only look over her shoulder at Seamus and shrug as she was pulled out the portrait hole by a girl who looked as if she could be blown over by a slight breeze at any moment. What on earth were they feeding the kids in South Africa?  
  
She was hauled, half running the whole way, to the back of the library. There were students everywhere, in the chairs, on top of tables, on the floor, all surrounding Warren and Aysha, who were reading something and muttering to each other.  
  
Lucy freed herself from Maria's bony fingers and dropped down in front next to Vladimir and Misha.  
  
"What is going on?"  
  
"Fudge tabled the proposal."  
  
"What does that mean?"  
  
"It means," Warren spoke up, "That the Minister of Magic has postponed the vote by the senior council."  
  
"Until when?"  
  
"He could, foreseably, delay any action for the entire length of his term as Minister."  
  
Arguements and shouts arose, while the 7th years attempted to calm the group, Lucy looked around, saw Wesley's leg dangling from a table on her right, and tugged it gently.  
  
"When did this happen? How did he find out?"  
  
"Marguerite's parents, for one, and half a dozen other ambassadors and family friends, notified us by express owls about an hour ago."  
  
"Ambassadors?"  
  
Wesley nodded, "The Ducasses have been following this closely, both because their daughter is involved and because the French Ministry is very interested in what's going on here. Word of this has spread among the other ambassadors; they're all intensely interested. That's how it got upgraded from a proposal to a bill, someone got it on the agenda for the lower house of Legislative Ministry Affairs, and they passed it yesterday afternoon."  
  
"So its a law?"  
  
"No, it has to be approved by the Senior Council, and Fudge must be afraid that it will. That would make him look pretty foolish, so he's blocked it, stupid blighter."  
  
Warren was passing the paper around now.  
  
"As far as we can figure, this is completely legal."  
  
"Doesn't make it right," Lukas muttered.  
  
"What do we do now?" Marguerite was holding a paper herself, undoubtedly a letter from her parents.  
  
"Is there anything we can do?" Gisella Trifiro passed the paper to the rest of the Hufflepuffs.  
  
"What CAN we do? Fudge doesn't care about us, he's not going to care what we say."  
  
"Then we have to get someone HE listens to to care about it," Mikhail muttered.  
  
"What was that?" Aysha's head snapped around.  
  
Mikhail shrugged. "Well, Koji-"  
  
"Kentaro."  
  
"Sorry, Kentaro over there is right, Fudge doesn't care what happens to us. And he doesn't answer to international authorities, so the ambassadors aren't going to influence him much. If he's going to change his mind, we have to get some fairly important British wizards on our side."  
  
"I thought we already tried that."  
  
"I think we need something a bit more drastic this time, we have to get their attention."  
  
"Well we can't exactly have a sit down strike on the Ministry steps now can we?" Lucy muttered.  
  
A lively discussion was springing up now, terribly disorganized, as all their discussions tended to be, with students shouting suggestions on how to grab the attention of the Ministry. Lucy was about to see if she could sneak out to grab a bit of breakfast when she felt a tap on her shoulder.  
  
Vladimir was tapping her on the shoulder.  
  
"Dimitri has an idea, but we want a non-Slytherin to propose it."  
  
Lucy rolled her eyes, "Vlad, I think we are beyond house rivarly at this point, none of us may be here next year anyway."  
  
Vlad shrugged.  
  
"Fine, what is it?"  
  
Dimitri leaned across and whispered in her ear.  
  
"Are you insane! Dimitri, you'll be killed, we'll all be killed. We'll be massacred by our fellow students and you know very well the heads of house won't do a thing to stop it, it may even earn house points!"  
  
She hadn't realized she was yelling until in the unearthly silence that followed "house points" she turned to see Warren, Aysha, Misha, and Maeve staring at her from the 7th year huddle.  
  
"Lucy, is there something you'd like to share with the rest of the group?"  
  
Lucy shook her head and pointed at Dimitri.  
  
"Chernyshev?" Misha raised one eyebrow.  
  
Dimitri shrugged and stood. "Well, you all know what's happening on Saturday..."  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&  
  
"We are all going to die." Lucy sulked all the way back to the common room.  
  
"We may not," Nicholas piped cheerfully. He happend to think the idea was brilliant.  
  
"It's easy for the Slytherins, they've all been learning nasty curses since they could toddle, THEY'LL stand a fighting chance. I, on the other hand, with my rudimentary wand technique, am going to get my ass hexed back to the Stone Age."  
  
"Try to be optimistic Lucy," Svetlana chuckled.  
  
"Optimistic, right, I am optimistic about spending the rest of my life as an insentient blob of jello."  
  
"I am sure once they understand our situation that our fellow students will support us."  
  
"Understand? We are talking about an aspect of Hogwarts life where even the most intelligent of students is reduced to a mindless, witless, cheering and jeering sack of flesh and water. You can't reason with that unless you hit it with a bludger. And there are only two of those. Two bludgers versus the entire Hogwarts student body. Right. Goodbye end of year feast, hello St. Mungos."  
  
"Lucy, you don't know that."  
  
"You're right, there may not be enough of us left to take to St. Mungos."  
  
"You're overreacting."  
  
"I'm overreacting? Don't you get it? They aren't even going to have to ask, they already know I'm the weird one. When this goes down, I bet you a dozen galleons they start AIMING for me. 'Take down the freak, that'll do it!' You guys are normal, you could blend in, sneak past them, tunnel out through the dungeons using spoons and start up life somewhere else under new names while I'M being sacrificed to the Whomping Willow. IN PIECES!"  
  
"You could say you did it in the name of freedom and equality."  
  
"Thank you Ginger, that's very sweet. Have them put that on my tombstone, right under the words 'Here lies Lucy Montero, what's left of her.'"  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&  
  
"Has anyone seen Lucy?" Seamus came down to the common room, adjusting his Quidditch robes and carrying his freshly trimmed broomstick.  
  
Ron and Harry were waiting for him, Hermione was performing her nearly patented water/shatter resistance charm on Harry's glasses. The three of them shook their heads.  
  
"She was gone when I woke up this morning," Hermione returned the glasses to Harry. "You three better get down to breakfast if you want Ginny to leave you anything."  
  
Seamus cast one last glance around, sighed, and followed his teammates down to breakfast.  
  
The entire school was up earlier than usual for a Saturday morning, for today was the Quidditch final, with Gryffindor and Slytherin once again vying for the Cup. House colors were out in abundance, with the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws wearing red and gold in addition to their own colors as a sign of solidarity. With all the excitement and speculation amongst the breakfast chatter, no one really took notice of the few students that were missing.  
  
The sky looked overcast, but the winds were calm and the temperature warm as the students assembled in the stands, some whispering and pointing at the VIP box, which was full of important alumni and Ministry officials who often came up for the final game of the year. Professor Dumbledore, however, was not in his seat yet.  
  
All attention focused on the pitch as Aluicious Javenson began the introduction and the teams circled proudly, assumed positions and waited for Madam Hooch to begin the game.  
  
Harry was tense, focusing on the snitch and trying not to worry about Ron, who had been given a sharp talking to by Ginny the night before about not interfering. The team had come a long way this year, and had managed to do so with remarkably few injuries.  
  
Just one more game with no funny business and the Cup was theirs.  
  
The Quaffle was released, Ginny darted for it, Ron went hunting a bludger to cover her with, and Harry shot skywards to begin a hunt of his own.  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&  
  
The game was going well, no injuries, but both sides were scoreless after half an hour. Seamus cornered a bludger on the far right of the Gryffindor end of the pitch and sent it sailing towards the Slytherin chaser who, as Seamus had guessed, was just about to receive a pass. The surprised chaser veered, the Quaffle dropped, and Ginny snatched it up. Seamus grinned, she was very good at picking up the trash.  
  
"And a superb play by Ginny Weasley, she shoots- is the keeper really supposed to be THAT close to the posts, I'm sure there is a violation in there somewhere, no doubt one of our esteemed alumni here can tell me what that is, but it's back to Gryffindor now, an excellent execution of the Pulinster Dart by Underwood, he has shown incredible improvement this year, he's all on his own, he's- what's that?"  
  
Seamus nearly missed the bludger he was working on as he turned to stare at Aluicious, and then down at the pitch where Aluicious was pointing. Something was moving down there, several somethings.  
  
They moved so quickly that almost before everyone had begun to look down at the pitch they were already in position.  
  
Aluicious seemed to feel the need to keep commentating, despite the fact that Madam Hooch had blown the whistle and was in possession of the Quaffle.  
  
"And, wait a second I know that one, that's Wesley Lane, and William, that's Nicholas Kornakovitch and his sister, and they all seem to be linked together between the goalposts, what in Merlin's name is going on here! Where are your loyalties people, this is QUIDDITCH!"  
  
As Lucy handcuffed herself to Marguerite midway across the pitch and offered her left wrist to Misha, she tried to quiet her racing heart and listen. Somewhere, not far off, there was a quiet purring, she looked over her left shoulder with the Sight, and saw the Snitch flying figure eights lazily around the Gryffindor goalposts about 20 feet above the ground.  
  
By this point the international students were handcuffed and chained together in a line stretching from Aysha's right hand, which was handcuffed to a chain around the Slytherin center post, to Warren, whose left hand was similarly attached to the Gryffindor main goalpost. Lucy caught Warren's eye and nodded, he smiled, and using the wand in his right hand, sent a paper airplane flying up to Aluicious.  
  
As the plane dove and turned, it appeared to split, first into two, then four, then the multiplication became too fast to keep track as the air was literally filled with paper airplanes, buzzing the players on their brooms and aiming for the stands. Within minutes, every spectator and athlete was holding one. Warren looked immensely proud of himself.  
  
"The assembled body of your peers, in demonstration against the gross injustice done this week by the Office of the Minister of Magic against the basic human rights of all international students, has been forced to this final attempt to gain the attention and support of all decent and ethical British Wizards by holding the ground of this pitch in a manner of non- violent protest. As is our right by the precedent of the Great Goblin Spit- In of 1872."  
  
What followed the preamble was a brief description of what had happened that year and most importantly Fudge's recent actions. The students were still staring at the pitch in horror, as were most of the teachers, with the noted exception of Professor Binns, who's wavering form could be seen shimmering in delight that someone had actually paid attention and retained some memory of his lecture on the Great Goblin Spit-In of 1872.  
  
"Well done my dears!"  
  
Lucy shrugged, still waiting for the hexes to come raining down. "Well, we got Binns' attention."  
  
"He's dead, he doesn't have much weight with Fudge, Luce."  
  
At this point the Quidditch players had had enough, and descended on Madam Hooch en masse.  
  
"They can't actually-"  
  
-"Can still play even if the pitch is occupied."  
  
"Remember the mooncalf outbreak in '35? They kept playing!"  
  
A loud shrill blast of the whistle brought the commotion to a halt. Madam Hooch strode over to the Gryffindor goalpost, where Warren Lane was leaning over to munch on a sandwich in his left hand.  
  
"Mr. Lane."  
  
Warren stood up. Consequentially, the entire line of protesting students was forced to stand. Lucy gave Madam Hooch credit; a lesser woman would have been intimidated at such a showing. The players certainly took a step back. That is, every player but Ron Weasly, who was fixing Lucy with a Look she was trying not to see.  
  
"Yes, Madam Hooch?"  
  
"Do I have your assurance that you and your fellow conspirators will confine yourself to this area of the pitch and remain on the ground while play is in progress?"  
  
Warren smiled, he could be incredibly charming if he wanted to be. "You have our absolute assurance ma'm."  
  
The small woman strode back to her players. "Play will resume as normal, take positions."  
  
A cheer went up from the crowd, the players took to the air, and the whistle was blown. Lucy found the Snitch flying high above center pitch, and it took only a little probing to spark its interest and tease it into coming closer. When she had it in range, she got Warren's attention again. He nodded grimly.  
  
"Sorry Harry," she whispered, rechecked her grounding, reached out, and cloaked the Snitch.  
  
The Hogwarts Golden Snitch was supposed to be tamper-proof. It was kept under lock and key and had enough anti hexing spells on it that even the tiniest of modifications would cause it to turn bright purple, close up, and drop to the ground. However, the Snitch had never been protected against Western Magic, and it was, Lucy found, pathetically simple for her to put on a very low energy shield which made the ball completely transparent. Not even Harry would be able to find it now.  
  
No one but Lucy noticed its absence, as the snitch was often never seen before the end of the game by anyone but the Seekers anyway, and play continued seamlessly throughout the dirty little deed. It had been Dimitri's idea to try and keep the game going, he was thinking along different lines, but Wesley, who had been watching out the window during Lucy's master trials the previous winter, had asked her if she could do anything. She pointed out that she could hide the snitch, then had to convince everyone that this was theoretical, she hadn't actually interfered with Quidditch games in the past.  
  
One thing was for certain, if the Looks Ron Weasly was sending her way now were any indication, she was as good as dead the minute the players found out, and she wasn't certain she was any safer with the Gyffindors than the Slytherins.  
  
Harry hadn't noticed anything amiss, poor boy, and was gliding high above most of the action, out of "accidental" bludgering range, a tactic he had learnt well last year. Harry watched Ginny nearly score, and held his breath when a bludger came dangerously close to her head. Not that he was too worried about Ginny, she was an ace at ducking those things, uncanny little sixth sense really, but he and the rest of the team had learned they needed to watch Ron at these times. Player or not, that was his little sister up there, and Merlin help anyone who tried to knock her off her broom. The Slytherins, unfortunately, were on to this as well by now, and they liked to see how far they could push him.  
  
Seamus was on to it, however, and he passed Ron the bludger he'd been coddeling, letting him send a blow legally rather than risk the full body tackle that had nearly occurred last game. Seamus was feeling a little distracted, however, there was this strange buzzing in the back of his head that he couldn't quite shake, and he hadn't even been hit yet.  
  
Five hours later the buzzing in his head had been replaced by the growling of his stomach. Not one dive had Harry made for the Snitch, they were tied at four goals apiece, it had been a tight game, and the wind had picked up, throwing off his bludger vectors. The one grim piece of satisfaction was that the alterations to his broom were proving well worth the effort, his cornering was tighter, and there was significantly less leeway, the tendency of an idling broom to drift to the side, than before. That was proving helpful with the wind; nothing was worse than missing a dead on bludger return because your broom sidled.  
  
The wind was making it unpleasant for the protesters as well. While the walls of the stands kept them somewhat protected, they were on the ground and completely exposed. Marguerite was shivering.  
  
Lucy was too busy being annoyed to really notice the weather; she had been gifted with an uninvited guest ever since the game began. The Hogwart's Snitch was fast, elusive, and not particularly bright, but it was curious, damn curious. And the presence of something that was creating an energy field around it seemed to excite the godforsaken ball to no end. It had been buzzing Lucy's head and flying circles around her for hours.  
  
It was the intense loathing for the Snitch that was causing the buzzing in Seamus' drowsy, empathetic head. He didn't know it, of course, but as the afternoon wore on and on, he became less and less alert. It was just after the Slytherins called a time out, as he sank lazily down, that his eyes unfocused, and all of a sudden, he Saw it.  
  
Seamus had never really used the Sight before, Lucy had tried to train him in it last year, but he thought he was blocked. As it turns out, it seemed it was something he had, but didn't have very much conscious control over. So it was only in his exhausted state that he Saw the pitch in the bright colors of energy fields. And there, buzzing around Lucy's head and emitting a nearly blinding energy field, were the fluttering wings of the golden snitch.  
  
That got his attention, snapped him out of his haze, and snapped his eyes back to normal sight. The snitch was gone, but Lucy looked supremely annoyed...oh bloody hell.  
  
It didn't take an A in advanced arithmancy to figure out why Harry, the most brilliant Seeker Hogwarts had seen in decades, hadn't been able to find the snitch since nine that morning.  
  
She was hiding it, the little vixen, they could be playing for days.  
  
His first impulse was to tell Harry immediately. His second was that if Ron ever found out they'd be mailing Lucy home in a matchbox.  
  
Discretion, he sighed, was the better part of valor.  
  
Harry was just to the left of the protest line in the center of the pitch, talking to Madam Hooch and Draco Malfoy, a captains' conference. It didn't take long, Harry nodded and headed back to his teammates, who were stretching after hours of flying. They were also sending dirty looks at the line of bodies extending from their goalposts, most especially at Warren, since he was actually attached to it. Warren Lane, however, having brought an extra scarf and filled his pockets with food, was supremely comfortable and remained unphased.  
  
"We're going to keep playing, but if the game hasn't ended by dinner we're stopping and carrying on tomorrow."  
  
The Gryffindors broke from their circle, and Seamus managed to grab Harry's arm before he kicked off.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Harry, I don't think you're going to find it."  
  
"Come on now, think positive."  
  
"No, it's not that. I don't think you CAN."  
  
The gravity in Seamus' face made Harry pause.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You can't tell Ron, but I think Lucy is cloaking the Snitch."  
  
"WHAT!"  
  
"Shhh!"  
  
"How can you tell?"  
  
"I can tell, the way she taught me. It's her kind of magic, that's why it hasn't been detected."  
  
"We should get Madam Hooch-"  
  
"There's no way to prove it."  
  
Harry glanced over at where Lucy was sitting on the grass, back to back with a small girl with blond hair. She certainly looked annoyed about something, and the other girl kept swatting at something in the air.  
  
"You can't tell me where it is?"  
  
Seamus shook his head. "I thought about that. My guess is that the minute she sees you make a move, she'd move it anyway."  
  
"So we are playing for as long as she wants us too?"  
  
"Unless they get what they want, I suppose so."  
  
Harry groaned and ran a hand through his hair.  
  
"You could use this to take a break, you know, let the reserves take over, its not like there is any chance Malfoy is going to catch it."  
  
There was a scuffle across the pitch, Seamus squinted against the setting sun to see Draco being restrained by the Slytherin beaters. The keeper put something back into his robes, his wand no doubt, and there was an audible SNAP in the air.  
  
"Oh no."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"The Slytherins were using the cancophonious charm again." The Slytherins had been caught audio-spying on the Gryffindor huddle before, usually the team used a nullifying charm before a tactics meeting. That had not been performed today, as this meeting wasn't about tactics."  
  
"That means-"  
  
"It means they know that Lucy is holding the game up."  
  
"We don't know that, we don't know when they started listening."  
  
At that moment the whistle blew, and there was nothing to do but take to the air.  
  
It didn't take long to find out how much the Slytherins had overheard. Less than a minute into the game a bludger came screaming toward the ground from one of the Slytherin beaters. Misha was more awake than Lucy at that point, and jerked her to his side just before the ball slammed into the ground inches away.  
  
But the Slytherins weren't done yet, not by a long shot. Twenty minutes into the renewed game and the ground around Lucy was pockmarked with holes from near misses with bludgers. Marguerite was white as a sheet, and Misha was red with cursing his house mates. Lucy was busy fixing her spell, tying the energies into a ley line, so if she was knocked out the Slytherins wouldn't get the satisfaction of breaking the sheild, they still wouldn't see the Snitch. Of course, it was a little difficult to focus when she had to shift to one side every few minutes.  
  
The bludgering of Lucy was, however, a very good thing for the Gryffindor Chasers, as there weren't any bludgers flying at THEM. Gryffindor now had a commanding lead.  
  
Madam Hooch was quite at a loss. There was, however, no rule in Quidditch against sending bludgers into the ground. The international students had agreed to be on the pitch at their own risk, so she could not penalize the Slytherins for using Lucy Montero for target practice, as it were.  
  
Dinner, for everyone concerned, couldn't come soon enough.  
  
"Hang in there kiddo, they have to break sometime."  
  
"Remind me never to sit next to you again."  
  
"I don't get it, how do they know it's you?"  
  
Lucy shrugged, "Maybe they just don't like me."  
  
"I am going to strangle-"  
  
"Misha, I'm betting you would do the same thing in their position."  
  
"Well, not so often, I'm getting quite tired really."  
  
"Hang on, I think we have an incoming."  
  
The three heads turned to the right, where a sneering Slytherin beater had paused mid-pitch, playfully bouncing his bludger. The rest of the players were at the Slytherin end, where Gryffindor Chasers were assaulting the goalposts yet again.  
  
"Wait for it," Misha breathed, they had learned it was important not to move until you were absolutely sure where the bludger was going to land.  
  
Their eyes were fixed, trained on the bludger. Finally the beater smirked and let it fly.  
  
"3-2-1-Now!" Misha yelled and they all shifted to the right, Lucy looked up into the still smirking face of the beater.  
  
"What's he so happy-"  
  
BANG!  
  
Lucy's head snapped forward before the rest of her body keeled over into the dirt.  
  
They had been so fixated on the bludger to the right, they hadn't noticed the other beater sweep in behind them.  
  
Marguerite screamed, but it was drowned out in the cheers from the still hearty crowd as Ginny Weasly scored again.  
  
Misha turned Lucy over carefully, putting an ear to her chest.  
  
"Still breathing."  
  
On his left, Dimitri Chernyshev pulled his wand out of his robes, leaned as far as the chains would allow, and gently tapped Lucy's forehead, muttering, "assaymus skeletus". A swirl of blue light surrounded Lucy's head, disappeared, and then reappeared, now a bright green.  
  
Dimitri nodded, "That's good news at least, means the bludger didn't fracture her skull."  
  
Misha was staring at him in astonishment. "How did you know that?"  
  
"Simple, it turns red if there are any broken bones. We use it all the time back home, the safe places to play Quidditch are sometimes far away from the house, it helps to know how serious it is. She probably has a concussion, however."  
  
"A concussion?" Marguerite squeaked.  
  
"Don't worry, I've had half a dozen. Not supposed to have too many more though, bad for you. But a few won't do her any permanent harm, I don't think."  
  
It was long past dark, at this point, and the poorly illuminated ground of the pitch meant that few had seen the "accident." It wasn't until several minutes later that Alucious commented blandly, "Oh, and it appears we have a protester down, I repeat, protester down."  
  
Seamus turned to see Lucy lying on the pitch, with her head in Misha's lap, and a small girl holding her hand and crying.  
  
"Calm down Marguerite, she's going to be just fine."  
  
"The minute this game breaks I am going to hex those two to Hawaii and back."  
  
Dimitri tapped Misha on the shoulder and passed him a large cloak and two scarves.  
  
"Warren said to keep her warm, and you can put this under her head."  
  
Misha strained in the darkness to make out Warren Lane, sitting at the base of the goalpost in only his sweater.  
  
They wrapped Lucy up, as best they could in handcuffs, sliding the folded scarf under her head for a pillow.  
  
There was nothing to do but wait for the game to end.  
  
It seemed an age before Madam Hooch blew her whistle.  
  
"This game is to reconvene at nine tomorrow morning!"  
  
The teams landed, and seven seperate curses hit the Slytherin beaters square in the back.  
  
"Um, Nicholas, I don't think you are supposed to mix those two."  
  
Nicholas Kornakovitch shrugged, "That is an unexpected side effect."  
  
"I didn't know people could bend that way."  
  
"I don't think they're supposed to."  
  
Seamus dismounted and ran over, but there was already a group of people surrounding Lucy, and he couldn't get near.  
  
He relaxed a bit when he heard her voice, soft and a little slurred, drift over the pitch.  
  
"It's Saturday, I'm Lucy, and if you keep asking me stupid questions I'm going to hit you- as soon as the Marguerites stop spinning."  
  
Madam Hooch had made her way over.  
  
"You should send her to the hospital wing Mr. Grigorev."  
  
"I'm fine, really, I think I have a little bump though."  
  
"See she's-"  
  
"Misha, when did you get a twin brother?"  
  
"-Er fine, she's just fine."  
  
"Actually, I may not be. Is there normally a funny bendy-type platypus playing Quidditch for Slytherin?"  
  
Dimitri looked where she was poining, where the Slytherin beaters were being helped off the field.  
  
"Yes Lucy, today there is."  
  
"Oh, then that's ok then." 


	24. Chapter Twenty Four: In the Still of the...

Harry Chapter Twenty Four: In the Still of the Night  
  
The pitch had been deserted for the better part of an hour before Warren and Aysha cast the charm that unlocked the handcuffs and released the line of students from each other. Most leapt to their feet for a good solid stretch, massaging their somewhat chafed wrists.  
  
Lucy remained on the ground, trying to convince her well-meaning keepers to let her attempt to sit up.  
  
"You're going to miss all the food," she pointed out. That was not exactly true, there was enough food stockpiled in the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff changing rooms to feed them for a week, but it was worth a shot, Dimitri especially seemed interested.  
  
"The worst that will happen is I lay back down."  
  
Finally, Misha and Warren let go of her arms and allowed her to sit up.  
  
"See? I'm fine."  
  
That wasn't exactly true, the world was spinning a bit, but if she told them that she'd be spending the night on the pitch. Besides, the sensation wasn't all that different from the time she and Diego had gotten into Professor Giraldi's stash of grippa, consumed the lot, and then stumbled off the roof; only without the singing.  
  
With Marguerite supporting her, she finally made her way up into the shelter of the stands, where the internationals were preparing to camp for the night. Dinner was being served in the Hufflepuff changing room, and Lucy took a seat with her plate near where Katya, Maria Moray, Saori and Setsuko, and Alessandra were playing cards.  
  
"Nice the way everyone came together, isn't it?" Audrey Su commented as she sat down beside her, handing her a glass of water.  
  
"Lovely."  
  
"Listen, I wanted to talk to you about the watches, no one really expects you to stay up now-"  
  
"Really, I feel fine, and I don't think you are supposed to go to sleep with a concussion anyway." She added the last bit as Audrey looked ready to protest. But the Asian girl merely sighed and nodded.  
  
"Right. You're on the forest/castle corner, and your shift starts in three hours."  
  
The students had decided that, given the reaction of most of their classmates, it would be a good idea for some of them to keep watch during the night, in case anyone tried to play any dirty tricks. Especially since word had come from the hospital wing that the Slytherin beaters would not be able to play tomorrow and they would be forced to use reserves.  
  
She dozed a bit after finishing her meal, but a gentle shake restored her to consciousness. She looked up into the face of a vaguely familiar blond Ravenclaw.  
  
"Lucy? I'm Lukas, Lukas Getman. We ought to get going."  
  
Before she could protest that she was just fine, Lukas helped her to her feet, tucked her arm into his, and slowly walked her toward the corner of the stands with the forest to the right and the castle to the left, nearest the forest.  
  
"I didn't realize we were stationed in pairs."  
  
"We thought it less likely that both sentries would fall asleep. As if anyone could sleep like this anyway," Lukas gestured to the forest, where the strong wind was shaking the tree limbs. The pennants of the pitch were snapping loudly in the gusts, and the howling was becoming louder.  
  
They headed for their post, relieved Koji (or was it Kentaro?) and Ginger, and hunkered down to peer into the darkness. Nothing was moving that wasn't pushed by the wind, the trees were dark, and the moon was a slim thumbnail in the sky when it wasn't obscured by clouds.  
  
Occasionally the moonlight would glint on a piece of metal far below, drawing Lucy's eyes to the pile of "loot" she and the others had liberated from the trophy room before the match. The pile included the Quidditch cup, which the boys had reverently carried away, and a few other prizes. The instructions had been to carry away pretty much anything large and shiny, and Lucy had helped to leviosa several sizable trophies over the grounds, well out of sight of students, and stashed them in some bushes near the forest. The pile lay untouched, but it was one of the reasons they suspected visitors in the night; once the teams found out the Quidditch cup had been abducted, all logic could be assumed to be thrown by the wayside. So far it looked to be a boring night, but something was buzzing in Lucy's head, and she wasn't sure that it was the concussion. She kept her eyes peeled and her shields up.  
  
She kept them peeled for about ten minutes, after which she promptly fell asleep.  
  
"Psst, wake up Lucy!"  
  
Disorientated and with a terrible headache, she was prodded out of a lovely dream about dancing platypuses by Lukas's elbow.  
  
"Hmph, what is it? I wasn't asleep."  
  
"No, of course not, no one suggested you were. But look that way, William and Lesley have spotted something."  
  
Indeed, there was a systematic blinking of a wand from the middle of the castle side of the stands.  
  
"Whatsitmean?" She rubbed her eyes, which didn't help her head at all.  
  
"Something's coming, in the air, from that way."  
  
She followed Lukas's gaze toward the lakeside of the wall, around which several faintly glowing somethings were moving through the air. It only took a touch of farsight to get a better look.  
  
The vision wasn't pretty.  
  
"That's the Slytherin Quidditch team."  
  
Lukas stared at her a moment, and then out to the specs.  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"I have excellent night vision, I eat a lot of carrots."  
  
Just then Ravenclaw Magda Sclafani came running up.  
  
"William says that the Slytherin Quidditch team is on its way."  
  
"Told you so."  
  
"How's your long distance hexing Lucy?"  
  
"Awful."  
  
"Well I'm pretty good, I'm going to see what I can do. Speaking of which, Magda, go round up the other Ravenclaws, they're all pretty accurate."  
  
"Slytherins are pretty good at that stuff too, and there's more of them."  
  
"You think they'll attack their own team?"  
  
"I'm betting half of them are on the ramparts as we speak."  
  
Lukas owed Lucy a galleon, for, indeed, every Slytherin was already assembled on the far side of the stands, watching the approaching figures intently by the time the Ravenclaws showed up. The Lanes, who had been hexing each other since birth, were also there. The rest of the students were awake, and spread around the stands. Maria Moray had come to sit with Lucy, who was watching Marguerite intently.  
  
Meanwhile, the Ravenclaws and Slytherins were strategizing.  
  
"Something noisy, they won't want to risk being caught by Filch."  
  
"Need to get them out of the air."  
  
"Transfigure them all into ducks."  
  
"Blow them into the lake."  
  
Quickly ideas were passed around, it was remarkable how many dirty hexes the unassuming Ravenclaws knew. They really did study EVERYTHING.  
  
The Slytherins, however, were more adept at plotting, and quickly orders flew, students separated, and on Misha's signal, all hell broke lose.  
  
From Lucy's corner, it was difficult to make out the exact sequence of spells, they all seemed to fly at once. But it was certainly a spectacle to behold. The team seemed to lose control of their brooms, which took an abrupt turn, flying the flabbergasted players away from the pitch, out towards and over the lake. In the meantime small noisy fireworks were exploding among the formation. After a few minutes, when the players were well over the lake, their brooms suddenly went quite vertical, dropping the Slytherins into the water with a loud splash, and zooming off into the nearest castle entrance. Some seconds later, the distinct voice of Peeves could be heard clearly as far as the pitch, howling "Students out of bed! Sneaky Slytherins, all awake, come and see them in the lake!" The arrival of Filch seemed imminent.  
  
Lucy didn't think she could be more impressed, that is, until she saw the players clambering ashore with what appeared in the moonlight to be webbed feet and hands. She made a mental note to be nicer to Rasheph.  
  
"Wow," Maria breathed.  
  
"Wow."  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&  
  
It would have been terribly boring if nothing more had happened that night, but Lucy didn't think terribly boring was all that terrible. An hour later she was still at her post, a drowsy Maria Moray at her side. Her head was still buzzing, at least, she thought it was her head. But a feeling deep in her gut told her it wasn't.  
  
"Whazat sound?" Maria slurred.  
  
The buzzing in her head was quite overriding Lucy's audible capabilities. She peered out, the moon had vanished and the ground was as near pitch black as it could be. There was a faint popping sound, and rustling.  
  
"I don't know," she didn't know why she whispered, but she did.  
  
Mangled, as her Sense was likely to be after the bludger scrambled her brains, it was better to be safe than sorry, and Lucy let down her shields to sense out the area near the pitch.  
  
"Lucy, are you sick?"  
  
"Shhhh."  
  
She wretched, as quietly as she could, slamming her shields home. What in the name of all the-  
  
With a leaden feeling in her stomach she felt a sort of deja vu. The last time she had felt this way it had been much worse, and Bet had been with her, asking her if she was sick...  
  
Sweet merciful lights of the lady, it couldn't be.  
  
A tiny drop of the shields reassured her as well as nausea could that there was no mistaking THAT energy trace.  
  
What were they doing here?  
  
"Maria," she whispered, "as quietly as you can, and as fast as you can, I need you to get everyone up, but keep them quiet, very quiet. And send the seventh years over this way."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Look, very very carefully towards the forest."  
  
At that moment the clouds thinned a bit, and there was just enough moonlight to make out the shrouded forms of the Dementors assembling on the edge of the trees.  
  
Maria gasped, nodded, slipped off her shoes, and silently made her way into the darkness.  
  
Within minutes Audrey, Misha, Warren, and Maeve were peering over the stands towards the forest.  
  
"How many?"  
  
"At first it was four, then there were ten, now I think it is more like twenty."  
  
"Where are they coming from?"  
  
"The forest?"  
  
"They can't apparate onto Hogwarts grounds, that includes the forest."  
  
"What do they want?"  
  
"Well they didn't exactly come to watch the Quidditch, did they Maeve."  
  
"Well we certainly did the Slytherins a favor, if they headed over to get the Cup they would have run straight into them."  
  
"The cup..."  
  
"Yeah, the pile's just behind those bushes."  
  
"I know where they're coming from."  
  
The little group turned to look at Maeve.  
  
"When we cleaned out the trophy room, we took every big thing that was in there, right?"  
  
"Anything shiny was pretty much the rule."  
  
"And because of the weight, we didn't actually carry them out."  
  
"You want to try lugging that pile of junk by hand, and what does that-"  
  
"What do you want to bet that the TriWizard Cup was stashed in the trophy room?"  
  
Lucy looked puzzled, but Maeve was a Hufflepuff, and they hadn't forgotten a single detail of the events of two years ago.  
  
"I don't understand."  
  
Audrey nodded, "Of course, I just assumed they- sorry Lucy. The Cup itself had been tampered with, it was a portkey, that's why Harry and Cedric disappeared. But how could it have been reactivated?"  
  
"Someone would have to have come to Hogwarts first to set it up again, and you can't apparate into Hogwarts."  
  
"You could a few days ago."  
  
All eyes turned to Lucy.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Long story, but the Hogwarts wards collapsed for a few hours not too long ago. There was enough time that if someone was waiting for it they could have snuck in and reactivated the spell on the Cup."  
  
Warren turned his eyes back to the forest. "There's about 30 of them now."  
  
Lucy gulped, "Is there any way to hurt those things?"  
  
Warren nodded grimly, "Expecto patronus, but there's so many."  
  
Misha looked around, "But there are 60 of us."  
  
"You really think that a bunch of students, some of them first years, can actually handle that many-"  
  
"What choice do we have? If we stay here, they are bound to find us soon. You know they have some sort of way to smell us out."  
  
"We need time to organize this."  
  
"We need a distraction."  
  
Lucy peered over to where three more Dementors were joining the herd.  
  
"I can make a distraction."  
  
The seventh years stared, and nodded. Lucy had always been a bit of an odd student, they didn't doubt her hidden talents.  
  
"I can sort of make an illusion, it would lead them wherever you want."  
  
Misha and Warren were already in discussion.  
  
"Strategically, we're at the best spot, all sides, element of surprise. Right, Lucy, here's what we need..."  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&  
  
There were about 40 of them now, and despite her strongest shields, she could still feel the "Dementor chill" that Warren had warned her about. All the chocolate they had was dispersed among the students, who were being briefed, and in some cases, being given hasty spell casting lessons at that very moment.  
  
Lucy had never been very good with advanced spells, at least the ones she didn't make up herself, so it was best for everyone that she simply focus on leading the visitors away from the pitch to give the other students time to get organized. Fortunately, at the moment the Dementors didn't seem to be going anywhere. Her first task was to change that. But she knew very well she couldn't manage it by herself.  
  
**Bet?**  
  
**Lucy?** Bet sounded sleepy. **Lucy, what on earth are you doing? Are you still outside? You know the Quidditch team was talking-**  
  
**Already taken care of. Listen, I need the BA, and there isn't any time. I need you to Look towards the forest.**  
  
**But I need to trance-**  
  
**Try it, just breathe and focus.**  
  
There was a long pause, but Lucy could sense intense mental activity from Beth's end, and even her limited empathetic capabilities could feel the alarm a few minutes later.  
  
**What on-**  
  
**I don't know why they're here, but we need to keep them away from the castle, we have no idea what's going on, but we can only assume that they expected to come out in there rather than in the forest.**  
  
**And what are we going to do?**  
  
**I need to lead them about for a little bit, Warren and the others think they can handle them, but they need time. And we need to get Dumbledore.**  
  
**He's not here.**  
  
**What!**  
  
**He wasn't at the game, word is that he went to London this morning, very urgent. No one knows why, some people think it has to do with your lot.**  
  
That would make sense. Of course, if Hogwarts was overrun with Dementors because the headmaster had left to advocate for a small group of troublesome students, that wasn't going to look good on any of their resumes.  
  
**Damn. Ok, first things first anyway. I need you to wake up the boys, now.**  
  
**Why can't you?**  
  
**As it is I am trying to shield the presence of 60 students from a growing mob of Dementors, my resources are being a bit stretched.**  
  
**Right, sorry.**  
  
**Just pull them into the linkage like it's a lesson...**  
  
Soon enough she heard Lynx's very fuzzy mind voice, he wasn't any good at this and could not mindspeak on his own.  
  
**Whatisit?**  
  
**Explanations later. We all need to work together, we are going to use Bet as a link because she has the best Sensing of the three of you. See through her eyes for a minute. Bet, show them the edge of the forest.**  
  
Rasheph's voice was a bit clearer, but still sounded like he was on the bottom of a pond.  
  
**Sweet merciful Merlin-**  
  
**Lynx, I need you to make a fireball, something small, it just has to be a spot of warmth to attract them. You can see through Bet, find an object you can carry for a bit, something you can set on fire. At the same time it lights, Rasheph, I need you to project over it the image of a student, any student, as clear as you can make it. Broadsend towards them, but don't try to touch their minds at all. Put enough power behind it and anyone should be able to see it. You guys should start at the doors of the castle, I need this thing to run towards the lake, then it is going to loop around, I'll tell you where to move him, but you need to be in sync.**  
  
**You are going to lure the Dementors?**  
  
**That's right, we aren't sure exactly how they see, but if they sense heat, that's what the fireball is for. I'm going to layer over that a very intense fear, they seem to feed off it. If we're lucky they won't be able to resist.**  
  
Rasheph sounded worried, **What if I can't sustain it for that long?**  
  
**All you have to do is focus, I'm going to be channeling energy out of our newly established ley lines, so you should be all right.**  
  
She heard Lynx's faint voice. **I found something to burn up, and I moved it towards the side entrance to the castle.**  
  
Lucy Looked, and grinned, **That's oddly poetic of you Lynx. Rasheph, are you ready?**  
  
The mention of the ley lines brought to Lucy's attention a possible reason for the Dementor brigade. While Rasheph was perfecting his image she roused Seamus.  
  
**Seamus wake up!**  
  
**What the-**  
  
**Seamus, wake up Harry. Just tell him that someone may be trying to tamper with the Things, the whodoeswhatsit.**  
  
**The what?**  
  
**Just wake him already!**  
  
There was a pause. Rasheph was ready. She didn't have time.  
  
When Seamus came back he had a noticeable cloud of concern. **He was already awake, said his scar had been hurting, and then he and Ron ran out of the room without their shoes. Lucy, what's-**  
  
**Can't talk, go wake McGonagall, something's in the school, goodbye.**  
  
After shutting Seamus out she mentally turned back to the BA.  
  
**Ok Lynx, light her up.**  
  
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Lucy was watching with both the Sight and her normal eyesight, a slightly disorienting experience, but it was essential she have as clear an idea of what they were showing the Dementors as possible. She Felt Rasheph calm himself before she saw a figure appear on the grass near the castle.  
  
She had told Rasheph to pick a student, but he hadn't. In rather a brilliant decision, he had as clearly as possible replicated the form of Sirius Black. Lucy grinned, she was sure the Dementors would have little trouble recognizing or recollecting the only wizard to escape Azkaban.  
  
It wasn't exactly Black, of course, Lucy had met him once. But this version matched perfectly with the wanted poster of three years ago Harry had shown her. That made sense, that was all Rasheph had seen of him.  
  
Seconds later, Lynx lit his fire. Lucy was hiding the fire itself from sight, so that only Sirius showed, but the figure gave off enough heat to be alive. Lucy added a thick over layer of fear and anxiety, and they set Sirius moving.  
  
It didn't take long for the Dementors to notice. They began to move in that eerie, gliding fashion of theirs almost as soon as she set the layer. She tried to focus on keeping the students on the pitch shielded from sense, and keeping the phantom's parts as coordinated as possible, but she did noticed a movement off to the side- Audrey and Misha using some obscure spell to freeze the portkey, stopping any more visitors from coming in. They then leviosa'd the cup up into a tree in the forest, gave Lucy a wave, and darted back to the pitch.  
  
Sirius was running along the lake, leading the Dementors away from the castle. He had ducked precariously close to the Whomping Willow, and several Dementors had been momentarily stunned. But Sirius continued to evade them, drawing them safely away from the castle, closer to the forest.  
  
Warren appeared at her side. "We're ready Luce, anytime now."  
  
**Bet, have them speed up a little, and bring him into the pitch by the far entrance.**  
  
Sirius was leading them on a merry chase indeed. He cut across the lawn, down to the pitch, and through the entrance.  
  
The Dementors pooled through, spreading over the pitch, circling around Sirius's form, closing in.  
  
At Lucy's signal, the BA ceased their ruse, and the Dementor's were left staring at the smoking remains of a badly burned Quaffle.  
  
At the same instant, 60 students emerged from their hiding places in the stands, found a Dementor, took aim, and the pitch was filled with the cries of "Expecto Patronus!"  
  
It didn't matter that not every spell was terribly strong, it didn't matter that not every spell hit its target. The Dementors were outnumbered, and, thanks to Lucy, still completely blind to their attackers. The ground of the pitch was awash in the silvery forms of lions, foxes, bears, hawks, wolves, elephants, reindeer, boars, whales, and a particularly effective sheep.  
  
Lucy looked at her wand. It was tempting. It couldn't do any harm.  
  
She cast a glance about and spied a Dementor getting dangerously close to an exit, that was where they were concentrating most of their attention. She breathed and took aim.  
  
Dimitri had spotted the same Dementor as well, but his leopard was too late, Lucy's eagle was already there.  
  
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	25. Chapter Twenty Five: We Are the Champion...

Chapter Twenty Five: We Are the Champions  
  
Lucy wasn't certain of what time the Aurors actually arrived to clean up, but dawn was rising as she and the rest of the international students were crowded into the hospital wing, occupying all the beds and taking up pallets on the floor as they were drowned in hot chocolate and super-dark chocolate bars were forced down their throats.  
  
She was dimly aware of a great deal of activity coming from the far room, formerly for burn victims, which she thought had been storage, but she couldn't focus on much of anything at the moment. She was tired from staying up all night, from being beaten over the head with a bludger, from the prolonged presence of the Dementors, and she had the grandmother of all reaction headaches from stretching herself so far. But it was with a profound sense of pride and admiration for Rasheph, Bet, and Lynx that she drifted in unconsciousness at last.  
  
She woke up late Sunday afternoon as the lowering sun hit her through the window. She turned to her right and looked up at Marguerite, who was sitting up in bed chatting with Audrey on her pallet on the floor to her right. Lucy grinned at Audrey under the bed, and sat up herself. She then lay back down and tried to sit up a little more slowly. Much better.  
  
Saori was softly snoring on her left, across from her she saw that Warren was awake, but Wesley and William were not. It appeared Madam Pomfrey had attempted to segregate the sleeping arrangements in the hospital wing, as all the boys were lined up on one wall, and all the girls on the other. It was just as well, she could hear Dimitri snoring from where she was.  
  
The door to the small room opened, and Lucy's brow knitted as she saw Ginny Weasly emerged. Ginny started to tiptoe towards the door, until she saw that the internationals were finally waking up. Lucy waved, thought about standing up, and thought the better of it.  
  
Ginny trotted over. "How are you feeling Lucy?"  
  
"Fine really, a bit tired, a bit cold, but that's probably from sleeping on the floor. What's going on in there?"  
  
Ginny's face clouded, "That's where they put Harry, Ron and Hermione."  
  
"What-"  
  
"NO, no no no, they're fine, they just didn't want them disturbed, and when they finally found you lot, they thought it best to put them somewhere quiet."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
Ginny shrugged, obviously frustrated. "I wish I knew. But those three, well, its always something. I thought maybe now- but anyway, no one really knows what happened. They ran out in the middle of the night, and were brought in early this morning. Bumps and bruises really, they should be out soon, I don't think there are even any broken bones, but they don't tell me anything. They were sleeping when I went in just now, so I couldn't even ask them. Not that they'll tell. I swear the closer they get the more secretive they are."  
  
"So everything's back to normal, Dumbledore's back?"  
  
Ginny nodded. "He came back sometime in the night, Merlin only knows how he knew. Rumor is there were intruders in the school itself, but, like I said, no one will say anything. I wish I could ask Ron, he has a terrible poker face, can read him like a book. But listen to me ratteling away. You look tired, what WERE you all doing?"  
  
At that moment Madam Pomfrey came bustling in.  
  
"Ginny Weasly! I sent you away ages ago! Come, come with me and let those students have a rest. Not one more word or I will bar you from the hospital wing for a week. I don't want to see you back in here for the next 24 hours without a broken bone or major blood loss. Out you go."  
  
Madam Pomfrey was a remarkably strong woman, and Ginny was out the door before she could really comprehend what was going on.  
  
"Have some more chocolate Miss Montero."  
  
But the school nurse knew Lucy's disposition to candy remedies, and she waitied until she had seen Lucy consume the entire bar before moving on to fuss somewhere else.  
  
It was days later that they realized the chocolate was laced with sedatives, and all the internationals had fallen back to sleep before dinner.  
  
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"Psst! Lucy! Wake up!"  
  
She struggled out of a dream to find Warren's face inches from her own.  
  
"Gah! What are you doing?"  
  
Warren Lane, in blue stripey pajamas, was squatting down next to Lucy's pallet, a newspaper in his hand and a smile on his face.  
  
"It worked, it passed, Fudge signed it."  
  
"You mean the Inquisition is over?"  
  
"They're dismantling the bonfires as we speak."  
  
"Does everyone else know?"  
  
"We're going to wake them all up in a minute, but I wanted to ask you something."  
  
"I'm not going to help Gryffindor win the Quidditch Cup Warren, I have had quite enough near death experiences as it is."  
  
Warren grinned. "Well I'm sorry to hear it. But Dumbledore was here, and he met with the seventh years, and he has decided that for the purposes of better communication and organization, he is establishing an International Society at Hogwarts. And we want you to head the Gryffindors next year."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"We decided to have someone from each house, you'll be the oldest next year anyway. It shouldn't be too much work, I mean barring a reversal of the dicision there's not very much for us to do next year. You could invent a logo if you wanted."  
  
"Would I get a nifty title?"  
  
"We're working on that. Something modest and dignified. William suggested Supreme Wafflemeister, but we'll see what the others say. So you'll do it?"  
  
Lucy's smile faded, "Give me the paper."  
  
Warren looked puzzled, but handed her the somewhat rumpled Early Edition of the Daily Prophet. In true Ministry style, their story was buried on the sixth page. Lucy read and then re-read the article.  
  
"I can't."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"The money, Warren, Fudge didn't give back any of the money. That's my scholarship, mine, and Alessandra's, and Merlin knows how many others who are too proud to say it. Without that money we can't afford to come back."  
  
Warren's smile returned. "Oh, don't worry about that, it's being taken care of."  
  
"Taken care of! By who?"  
  
Warren rocked back on his heels, "Actually, by the oddest source- I don't know a lot of the details, but I've been assured that the matter is being solved as we speak."  
  
Lucy gave Warren the strongest hug she could manage. "In that case, we'll miss you like hell, but I'd be honored."  
  
By that time Audrey, Misha, and Maeve were already standing in the center of the room, waiting impatiently for Warren, who got to his feet and trotted over.  
  
"Oy!" Misha boomed, and seconds later everyone who wasn't already awake was sitting up whether they liked it or not.  
  
Madam Pomfrey had heard Misha's "Oy" from her preperation room, and shaking her head at the widespread disrespect for a relaxing recovery ward, she removed her gloves and went to tell the young man to settle down.  
  
The cheer that erupted just as she was opening the door stopped her dead in her tracks.  
  
She closed the door on the pandemonium and went to tend to her pile of patient records. It was entirely clear from the scene in the hospital wing that the international students were quite completely recovered.  
  
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Recovered as they were, they were not released. After lunch had come and gone on Monday there were still some 60 odd very antsy students holed up in the hospital wing, pajamas gone, shoes laced and ready to leave.  
  
"The Aurors are still sweeping the school Miss Kuzmin, you will be let back to your common rooms as soon as they have cleared the halls from there to the hospital wing."  
  
They had dinner in the hospital wing.  
  
A rap on the door at half past seven had every ear straining to hear the conversation in the hall.  
  
Madam Pomfrey, who was as eager for her charges departure as any of them, entered the room, left the door open, and nodded.  
  
She also stepped back as the stampede nearly knocked her over. Although, to their credit, each student had already given her their thanks. And she was sound in her medical mind that each student also departed with three days dosage of chocolate in their pockets.  
  
For her part, Lucy dropped that out the first window she passed without another thought.  
  
The halls of Hogwarts were still crawling with Aurors. Their silent, stoic forms were around every corner they passed on the approved route to the common room. It still wasn't known what or who had actually been inside the school, or what had happened to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but it was clear that the Ministry didn't intend to be caught unawares again.  
  
Lucy longed to take a quick trip to the BA room, but they weren't allowed to deviate from their approved course, and it was unlikely that Bet, Rasheph, or Lynx would have been able to escape anyway.  
  
So it was they came to the Fat Lady at last, and stopped.  
  
Lucy looked around, and began to feel a bit foolish, for they certainly did look silly, all of them standing around in the hall.  
  
"What ARE you doing?" The Fat Lady drolled down at them.  
  
They merely looked at each other, they were stalling; that's what they were doing. They had no idea what the rest of their house was planning on doing to them once they walked through that door.  
  
"Oh for pity's sake, after a pack of Dementors how bad can it be?" Warren pushed his way to the frunt, snapped "fewmets" at the raised eyebrow of the Fat Lady, and charged ahead into the common room. William and Wesley followed behind, although Luch got the sense that it was more out of a sense of fraternal obligation than any real desire to face the firing squad.  
  
William grabbed Nichloas by the arm as he went through, Nicholas in turn pulled his sister Svetlana, who grabbed Chandrika, who pulled Alessandra, who snagged Karen, who snatched Shawanda's hand, who tagged Lucy, who pulled a rather pale Maria Moray through the portrait hole by the neck of her sweater.  
  
As a result they were all more or less holding hands when they entered the buzz of the common room, a buzz which withered and died at the sight of them.  
  
Lucy tried to still her heart and reminded herself she could be out the door and safely in the BA room in a matter of minutes.  
  
They stood there, hand in hand, waiting for the storm to break.  
  
But it didn't, instead most of the students broke out in smiles, a few of them even began to applaud.  
  
Lucy saw copies of the Daily Prophet strewn everywhere, apparantly news of the victory had already preceeded them.  
  
Dean led the Quidditch team in shaking Warren's hand- it was mentioned in the paper that he was the principle author of the bill- Warren himself was blushing, something Lucy had never seen before.  
  
She was patted on the back by numerous people she didn't know, and while most of the group was ushered over to the fire to partake in what was certainly a batch of illegally distilled Gryffindor Brew, Lucy was slowly edging her way towards the dormitories and her bed.  
  
She bumped into someone, turned about, and was nearly suffocated.  
  
"It's OK Seamus, I'm alive."  
  
Seamus released her from the hug and set her back on her feet.  
  
"Um, listen-"  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"No, I'm sorry I should have-"  
  
"No, I was an idiot, and then you'd be in trouble and-"  
  
"I'm fine, we're fine. Part of it was actually kind of fun."  
  
"Fun?"  
  
Lucy shrugged, "How often do you get to dunk Draco Malfoy in the lake?"  
  
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"I can't believe it, but I'm actually going to miss the little guy."  
  
"Well I'm NOT going to miss her, do you have any idea how much that thing eats?"  
  
"Mine feeds himself, almost entirely self sufficient."  
  
"None of YOU had to put up with that god awful smell, or the oozing."  
  
Exams were officially over, but their Care of Magical Creatures final merely consisted of a small oral report to the class on their "projects."  
  
Most of the beasties were not "castle friendly" once they were more than a few days old, so Hagrid had set up a pen for them behind the hut. Sparks was, however, an exeption, along with a few of the small lizard type creatures, and Lucy had kept him near her bed for the past few days; he had a habit of humming that put her right to sleep.  
  
As she carried Sparks over toward the pen, she almost felt it was worth the pain of looking after him in his eggfancy, given what everyone else had to put up with in the post-hatching stage. Draco Malfoy, for example, ears still smoking from his required dose of pepper-up potion following the late night dunking in the lake, was struggling with what appeared to be a large, muddly, scaly ant eater. He had fallen twice, to the delight of the Gryffindors, who were also a bit muddy themselves, but having a fine time of it. Lucy merely waited for Hagrid on the fence next to Bet, who's miniature buggaboo sat next to her eating a strawberry and spitting the seeds out at Gryffindors with remarkable accuracy.  
  
"So no reaction headache?"  
  
"We weren't working as long as you, and no, I think we're all getting a little stronger. The boys wanted to go get something to eat afterwards, of course, but by then they had us all locked in our dormitories and common rooms, wouldn't let us out into the castle at all. They even had most of the secret exits blocked."  
  
"Still no idea why?"  
  
Bet shook her head. "They never tell us, just assure us that everything is going to be fine and not to worry. It's really ridiculous, someday something is going to happen when the adults aren't around and then what will we do? All we've ever been trained for is to hide in the dungeons like scared little rabbits."  
  
Lucy nodded. Hagrid had arrived and she and Bet hopped down to get in line to give their little talk. Of course, no one was really interested in Neville's pet, essentially a larger version of a flobberworm, but they tried to look interested.  
  
**Still, it must have been a sight, everyone going after those Dementors like that.**  
  
**Indeed, it was almost like a ballet. The sight of that sheep bearing down on one I'll never forget.**  
  
**A sheep? Whose patronus was a sheep?**  
  
Lucy shrugged. **Unsolved mystery, no one will own up to it. I suspect Misha, it was a damn accurate and effective sheep.**  
  
Bet covered her giggle with a cough, stepped forward, and began her short talk on the proper rearing of the miniature bugaboo. Not much was heard, of course, because the Gryffindors were all trying to dodge the strawberry seeds and the Slytherins were all trying not to lose points by laughing at them.  
  
When the "exam" was ended and everyone bid a fond goodbye to their charges, Lucy carried Sparks over to Hagrid herself.  
  
"What's going to happen to him Hagrid?" She had read several nasty things about the black market uses for pheonix blood and various organs.  
  
"Never fear there Lucy, he'll be all right."  
  
"You'll find him a good home then?"  
  
"Er, actually its already been found."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"Well, here. I was thinkin' about jest keepin him 'ere. Fawkes would like to have somebody else to talk to, an he could show 'im the ropes a bit, theres a lot to learn about being a pheonix your first time out."  
  
Lucy impulsively flung her arms as far around Hagrid's middle as she could reach.  
  
"Thank you Hagrid! That would be perfect! And I could come see him?"  
  
"Come see him! You're his mother Lucy, at least that's what he thinks. The other reason to keep him about is that he'd probably pine away for you, they get uncommon attatched when they're only a few burnings old."  
  
Lucy was oblivious, cooing and petting Sparks on the head before Seamus's call of "Come on already Lucy, do you want to miss the Feast?" pulled her back to reality.  
  
"See you at dinner Hagrid!"  
  
Hagrid watched the two trot off, chuckled to himself and picked up a somewhat droopy looking Sparks. "Oh don't you sulk, she'll be back."  
  
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"I've said it before and I will say it again, these hats make us all look perfectly ridiculous."  
  
"Aww, come on Montero, they're fun."  
  
"They are not fun, they are stupid, and they itch."  
  
"That's just cause you aren't wearing it right, here let me-"  
  
"Touch it and die, Nicholas."  
  
Nicholas Kornakovitch had been enchanting hats all evening to flash insulting comments about their bearers, and Lucy was feeling foolish enough with a large black cone on her head.  
  
She was halfway through a drumstick when she noticed Rasheph trying to get her attention. Deciding that this seperate tables business was terribly impractical, she stood up and walked over, taking a seat at the Ravenclaw table. Marguerite, several meters away, leaned over and waved.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Um, I don't know how to say this Luce,"  
  
"Try just saying it then."  
  
"I think we have a new member."  
  
Lucy paused, "Excuse me?"  
  
Rasheph leaned back a bit, and spoke with the boy on his right.  
  
"Go ahead Magnus, discretely, under the table."  
  
Lucy looked under the table, to see several drumsticks and bread rolls circling about. She turned to look at Magnus, who smiled slightly and held up his palms.  
  
"See, no hands."  
  
Lucy was flabbergasted, but nodded. "Nice to meet you Magnus. Do you have any control over it?"  
  
"It sort of comes and goes, like right now I can start it, but I may not be able to stop it, and later if I wanted to try it, it may not work."  
  
It sounded like a half open channel to her. She explained what that was to Rasheph and Magnus.  
  
"Do you want it to go away?"  
  
Magnus thought about this for a moment, before shaking his head. "Nope, seems like it would be damn useful."  
  
Lucy nodded, "All right, I am going to put a temporary seal of sorts inside your head, to keep this from happening over the summer, you're in what year?"  
  
Magnus was chewing on a piece of steak at the moment, and merely held up 4 fingers.  
  
"Right, well, I'm out of the country for the summer, god willing, but I think we ought to introduce you to Mr. Brimstead, he can help you out if the seal pops, which it may or may not do, depending on how that channel is developing and how well I sealed it in the first place."  
  
Lucy gave Lynx's mind a rude mental shove, a rather hard mental shove as he wasn't particularly sensitive to mindspeach. The Hufflepuff looked about for a minute before finding her, and trotted over, drumsitck in hand.  
  
"What's the hubub all about, not more Dem-"he saw Magnus and smiled, "Oh, hello!"  
  
"Lynx Brimstead, meet Magnus...."  
  
"Mercury."  
  
"Right. Magnus Mercury, this is another member of our little association, Lynx Brimstead."  
  
Magnus raised his eyebrows a bit, "You know, I never would have connected you lot."  
  
"We try to fly under the radar. Sometimes people act stupidly around things they don't understand."  
  
Magnus nodded.  
  
"Lynx, Magnus has a newly cracked telekinesis channel, I'm going to seal it but I told him that if there were any problems over the summer that he could look to you for some advice and basic instruction?"  
  
Lynx practically glowed, "Well, yeah, I mean, of course I could teach him."  
  
**What's going on over there? I feel quite left out.**  
  
Lucy looked over to where Bet was pouting at the Slytherin table.  
  
**Rasheph has done some recruiting, so it seems.**  
  
**What?**  
  
**We have a new member in the BA.**  
  
Bet grinned.  
  
**Really? That's interesting. Well its nice to know we didn't keep those notebooks for nothing.**  
  
Bet was referring to the detailed accounts she had made the other three keep of their experiences in handling their new gifts, so they would have a reference for any future trainees.  
  
**Told you so.**  
  
Bet stuck out her tongue.  
  
**Well, if you're done with that, come on over here, I've got a surprise.**  
  
Lucy raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me boys, Bet says she has a surprise for me."  
  
Rasheph was not one to be left out, however, and he left Lynx and Magnus to exchange addresses and contact details while he followed Lucy to the Slytherin table, where she took a space across from Bet, between an agitated Pansy Parkinson and a grinning Katya Kuzmin. Rasheph sat on her left, sheilding her from Pansy.  
  
"Well, what is it?"  
  
"Go on," Rasheph prodded, "Tell her already."  
  
Lucy spun around, "You know about this?"  
  
"And not just him either," from behind her she heard Lynx's cheerful baritone. The Hufflepuff squashed himself down between her and Rasheph, forcing Pansy further down the bench.  
  
Lucy shook her head. "Someone better spill."  
  
Bet sighed, "You are no fun to surprise, you know that? Well, anyways, like I told you that day in the dungeons, I had already collected enough from the Slytherin Gaming Society to pay for my tuition and supplies for next year, the rest of it was strictly profit. And then Rasheph comes out and tells us that you and the other internationals have had your funding cut, and that you weren't giong to be able to come back next year."  
  
"How did you know that?"  
  
Rasheph shrugged, "I heard that little blond French girl whining about it, she was going to write to her parents immediately."  
  
Marguerite, Lucy smiled, for such a tiny, refined girl, she could get awfully worked up.  
  
"So we decided that the Slytherin Gaming Society needed to think bigger, much bigger. So we started contacting recent alumni, recent enough to have made a few galleons playing in it themselves. And they spoke with colleagues, and we got a sort of agreement going. That the final night of the year the pot would not be pocketed, or go to the winner, although a winner would be named and they would recieve certain other benefits, but that the entire pot would go towards the tuition and supplied of the international students that had been disenfranchised by the Ministry Witch Hunt."  
  
"What!"  
  
"I'm not done yet, AND that those alumni would match, sickle for sickle, galleon for galleon, a certain percentage of the pot if the students managed to raise enough. Apparantly word got round to embassies and such, because we had a huge number of pledges come in from ambassadors as well as folk inside the Ministry."  
  
Lucy shook her head, "Bet, I don't know what to say."  
  
Lynx tossed his head, "Well you know it isn't all for YOU don't you Lucy? There are other Gryffindors, Slytherins, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs who are going to benefit from the Fund. We have enough to cover what everyone needs for next year and a healthy head towards the tuitions for the year after that."  
  
"Oh Merciful Merlin, she's going to cry. Quick, somebody give her some food or make a joke, or something, because she's going to cry."  
  
She WAS going to cry, but at that moment Dumbledore stood up and began to speak.  
  
"Welcome to the end of another year. A year that has not been without its own trials, and tribulations. We have been witness, within this very castle, to the particular eviils which fear and ignorance can incite in the human character."  
  
Dumbledore smiled, "But as the phoenix, arises from its ashes, so do we also. We grow, and learn the true test of our courage, faith, and humanity only when confronted with that which we would avoid at all costs.  
  
"We know now that we must constantly be vigilant, even within the walls of our own school, or within the workings of our own government," Dumbledore cast a glance over at Warren Lane's attentive face.  
  
"We cannot live in isolation, and despite all fears, we must reach out to form new alliances, and make new friends, or we stand the risk of being truly alone," His gaze fell on Belle and Brady Bedford, who were seated with 5th year Hufflepuff Tabitha Williams, and her Slytherin cousin Lotte Dupree at the far end of the Ravenclaw table.  
  
"For no gifts that we possess can truly be considered gifts, it they are not shared, for how else can we improve and grow?" Lucy felt a bit uncomfortable, for now the headmaster was staring directly at her; her, and Rasheph, and Bet, and Lynx. But he couldn't possibly know about the BA, could he?  
  
"And so it is, that out of this time of great turmoil, and fear, and doubt, that we must acknowledge those who managed to throw aside prejudice and difference, to join in their common humanity. Would the students who were occupying the Quidditch pitch last Saturday evening please stand up?"  
  
Lucy hesitated, but Katya grabbed her by her robes and pulled her up. She felt rather exposed, they did look a rather small number in a vast space of the Great Hall.  
  
"For giving all of us a greater appreciation of our own freedoms, for having the courage to speak out when those far senior to you were in grave error, and for uncomprimising courage against a power far greater than yourselves, 40 points, a piece."  
  
All gazes swiveled towards the tally glasses, three of which were now full to almost bursting, the fourth was not, for the Slytherin Quidditch team had been severely penalized for their late night flight.  
  
"I have one more announcement, if you please. Several of our number would be incapable of returning to us next year if it were not for the incredible generosity and ingeniouty of the members of one house. Through their hard work and selfless actions, they have sought to single handedly overcome the shortsightedness and bigotry of certain officials who have neglected their own responsibilities. Certainly this was never a task intended to be the burden of the students, but they have shown themselves to be of the highest character, especially as many of the beneficiaries of their actions are strangers. For this, 15 points a piece shall be awarded to the deserving members of Slytherin House."  
  
The Great Hall was nearly silent. The very idea that the Slytherins were recieving poits for, well, being nice, was something that it took a moment for most of the other houses to wraps their heads around.  
  
Not so for the international students. Lucy was already standing on her bench, adding to the applause of Warren and his brothers, and indeed every other international in the room. The Slytherins, for the most part, were smiling, never before that they recieved the hearty congratulations of anyone but their own housemates.  
  
Lucy looked to the glasses; they were all overflowing at this point.  
  
"It appears," Professor Dumbledore seemed to make himself heard above the din without raising his voice at all, "That we have a tie."  
  
With a clap of his hands, the banners and colors of every house were flying from the ceilling. Lucy caught Misha's eye over the table, he nodded, and as one the internationals pointed their wands towards the ceiling.  
  
The banners of Slythering, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw were still flying, but they were interspersed among the Australian, Russian, Italian, Croatian, Japanese, South Korean, South African, Kenyan, Swedish, Chinese, French, and American flags that now hung from the rafters.  
  
Dumbledore smiled and took his seat. The meal resumed, but Lucy couldn't help sneaking a glance upwards every now and again, to watch the stars and stripes waving at her from between the Russian and French flags. 


	26. Chapter Twenty Six: Closing Time

Chapter Twenty Six: Closing Time 

"That tickles."

"It can't be helped, now stop fidgeting and let me work."

"Is she always this way?"

"Only when she's being forced to wear a stupid hat. Now, some silence if you please."

Having sworn Magnus to secrecy immediately after dinner, the BA was now assembled in their workroom, in front of the fire, where Lucy was sitting cross legged across from Magnus, trying to build a temporary seal over his newly opened channel, and checking for others as she went.

This was made difficult as Magnus was a squirmer, and had difficulty staying still. She made a mental note to make him Lynx's responsibility next year.

Finally, she felt it click in place.

"Done."

Magnus shook his head from side to side.

"You realize, of course, that this is an energy seal, you can't physically dislodge it Magnus."

"It's not that, my head itches."

"Oh, sorry, it'll pass."

Magnus looked around. "Funny, never even knew there was a room here."

Bet smiled from where she was lounging in an armchair. "That was the general idea."

"How long have you lot been here?"

"Since last semester," Rasheph replied, as he checked the bookcase and under the seats for his sister Anjali's Rememberall.

"Try the cauldron," Lynx called as he moved a stack of books aside and came up victoriously with a bag of Bertie Bott's Everyflavor Beans.

"You realize that those have probably been there since December."

Lynx looked at Bet quizzically. "Your point is?"

"Never mind."

"Ah ha!" Rasheph called from the corner, where he found the Rememberall under Spark's overturned cauldron. "It was in the Ootp corner."

They never had figured out what was meant by the letters OOTP burnt into the paneling in the far corner of the room, but that corner had been called the ootp corner ever since.

Lucy went over to the mantle, took down the Mirror, and after wrapping it in a cloth to protect it from dust, placed it inside a hollow book on the shelf.

"A tad paranoid, are we?"

Lucy merely rolled her eyes. "You should be fine for the summer Magnus, and we'll start meeting regularly again when school starts."

Magnus nodded, "Thanks a lot."

"Well, I suppose that's it really."

"No no no wait!" Bet dashed over to her satchel and emerged triumphantly with a camera. "I want a picture of the four of us, the original Barbarians Anonymous!"

"Is that what you call yourselves?"

"We're working on having some buttons made."

"You wouldn't mind taking it, would you Magnus?"

"Not at all."

"There is no way I am being photographed in this hat."

"Why don't you all stand in front of the fireplace."

"Lucy, put the hat back on."

"There is to be no photographic evidence of me in this hat."

"Why do you have to be so difficult?"

"I'm not being difficult, I'll put it back on when the camera is safely away."

Lucy tossed her hat on the armchair and went to join Bet in front of the fireplace.

"Lynx, touch it and die."

"I'm not doing anything!"

"Just get over here and give it to me, I'll hold it."

"No, no, no, can't have you seen with the hat."

"Everyone look this way and smile!"

Lynx managed to slip into place on Bet's left side as Rasheph stepped into place on Lucy's right. Despite her best efforts at getting the hat back, Lucy managed to smile on command.

"Thanks Magnus!" Bet reclaimed her camera as Lucy snatched the offending hat and thrust it into her pocket.

"It's getting late, we better get back in, wouldn't do to go all year and get caught on the last night."

One last sweep of the room to make sure nothing was left behind, and, a bit sadly, Bet dampened the fire and they made their way into the stairwell.

"Where are we going?"

"Rasheph will explain later. Helga."

"Salazaar."

"Godric."

"Rowena."

Their doors swung open.

"Well, that's that I guess," Lynx shrugged. "See you at breakfast!"

They waved goodnight, and disappeared into the wall.

So ended the first year of the Barbarian Society at Hogwarts.

* * *

"Psst Lucy, wake up!"

"Holy interuptus Batman!"

"What?"

"Huh?"

"Come on!"

"Nicholas, you are aware that you are in the girls dormitory, right?"

"Everyone else is about to go."

"Go where?"

"To the Great Hall, they want a photo."

"Are you telling me that I am being woken up, in the middle of the night, so I can face the possibility of garnering detention in my last hours so that some unnamed students can have a Kodak moment?"

"Yes."

"Let me get my robe."

They were not stopped by Filch, although with her luck Lucy was expecting the peering eyes of Mrs. Norris around every corner.

"Why could this not be accomplished in the daytime?"

"Shh, first, because the flags will be gone by tomorrow, and second, this is more fun."

"Of course it is."

By this time the sleepy Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and Slytherins had appeared. The flags were lowered until they were all suspended in mid air just above the tables.

"Ok, everyone on the table."

It took a fair but of crowding to get them all in frame, but eventually, with some students on the bench, some on the table, some on the floor, and quite a few on laps, they managed it. Lucy had never imagined she would be quite this friendly with Dimitri, but she was perched on his lap, the American flag just behind her left shoulder.

Audrey had the camera floating in mid air, checked them one last time, set the timer, and ran back to be pulled onto Warren's lap.

"Say ... damn, what do we say?"

"Freedom!"

"Victory!"

"Slytherins play Quidditch like- no never mind."

"Cheese!"

"Aw, come on, we need something more significant than-"

CLICK, FLASH went the camera.

The clock struck midnight, and the flags disappeared, along with the school banners. The hall returned to normal.

The assembly burst into laughter.

"Well, that was about as good as you could hope for this lot," Vladimir chuckled.

"We better get back before Mrs. Norris catches up," Maeve added.

"Right, well," Warren looked a bit awkward as he turned to Misha. "It was an honor, Grigorev."

Misha grinned broadly and extended his hand "Lane, same here."

Audrey and Maeve were already hugging, and by the time the seventh years had finished up the rest of the international society was already waiting at the doors.

"By the way, Nicholas, if I ever catch you in my bedroom again..."

The door swung shut on Lucy's threat, the hall was quiet.

So ended the first year of the Hogwarts International Society.

* * *

As Ginny had predicted, they were never told a single detail about what had happened inside the castle that night. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were safe, and they would have to content themselves with that.

Not that Ginny ever stopped trying, mind you, but after a day and a half, Lucy was quite sure she was never going to get the answers, not even from her big brother.

"Ginny, give me my trunk key."

"Spill."

"I'm not joking Virginia, give it to me or Hermione is going to incinerate your new dress robes."

"She would never."

Hermione's wand was poised over Ginny's trunk. "Just give him the key Ginny."

"It's not FAIR!"

Ginny Weasly had either officially gone mad, or had been reduced to the mental age of six.

Seamus elbowed his way past, pulling his trunk behind him. It appeared, as always, to weigh next to nothing.

He paused on the stairs next to Lucy, who was watching the little drama play out.

"Yup, definitely time to go home I think."

She nodded and gestured for Seamus to precede her down the stairs. Her trunk did not feel like it weighed anything less than a small elephant. She searched in her robe pockets for her wand, which, for once, was not where it was supposed to be.

"Need a hand, Lucy?" Before she knew what was happening the Lane brothers had descended upon her en masse, William and Wesley lifting her trunk and Warren lifting her, carrying her bodily down the stairs, and depositing her on top of her trunk by the fire.

"That really wasn't necessary," she commented dryly, fixing Seamus' chuckling form with a withering stare and trying to arrange her robes in as dignified a manner as possible.

"Oh, but it was," Wesley grinned.

Warren stepped forward. "By the power invested in me by being older than you, I hereby proclaim thee Lucy Montero, Supreme Phillaguster of Gryffindor House, and entitled to all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities therein."

"Here's your badge," William stepped forward to hand her a colored piece of torn parchment with the letters 'SP' hastily scribbled on it.

"Your mark of honor, may you wear it well," Warren solemnly pinned the paper to her robes with a straight pin.

"And mind you don't get it wet," Wesley added.

"And now, as a sign of acceptance of your new honor and title, you must dance a sign of celebration around the Great Hall."

"I have not the least intention of dancing, Warren."

The mischievous newly graduated Gryffindor grinned and pulled Lucy's wand out of his pocket.

"Dance for the wand Lucy."

Wesley poked her in the ribs, "Be thankful, I hear Dimitri Chernyshev had to sing the Russian National Anthem in front of the entire assembly of Slytherin House."

"That's not so bad."

"Naked."

"Oh. Well, you're bringing my trunk then."

The Lane boys quite cheerfully took her trunk down, as Lucy followed Warren out the portrait hole and through the corridors to the Great Hall. There were an alarming number of students there still finishing breakfast.

"Go on Lucy," Svetlana prodded.

The fact that she had very little idea of HOW to dance flashed through her mind.

"Um,"

She felt a touch on her shoulder, and turned to see Seamus struggling to keep a straight face.

"Your Supreme Phillagusterousness? May I have the honor?"

Accompanied solely by a round of applause, she took Seamus's hand, and let him lead her in a waltz among the tables and around the hall.

As they passed along the Ravenlaw table she heard Sergei Petrov protesting, "How come Lucy got to keep her clothes on?"

And so a song, a dance, an early morning swim, and a walk along the roof ended in the initiation of the first official leaders of the Hogwarts International Society. And all before breakfast.

* * *

Professor Dumbledore was just about to head downstairs to see the students off when a knock came at his office door.

"Come in. Yes, Minerva, what is it?"

Professor McGonagall seemed a little uneasy.

"Lucy Montero would like to see you, sir, she said it was very important, she was most insistent."

Dumbledore sat back in his chair. "You may show her in."

"Hello professor."

"Good afternoon, Lucy, I would have thought you would be down at the carriages by now."

"I will be, but there was something I needed to give you first."

She handed Dumbledore a sealed piece of folded parchment. The headmaster looked down at it quizzically.

"If this is a birthday card, my dear, I'm afraid you are a bit late."

"No, sir." She seemed more than a tad uncomfortable.

"Care to explain?"

"That's the report from my Circle, sir. As of two weeks ago I can verify the accuracy of the statement that the Dementors have pulled back to an isolated area in Northern Siberia."

Dumbledore's eyebrows shot up.

"You are certain?"

Lucy nodded, "An energy supply south of there was becoming corrupted, and a Maintainer team was sent out to investigate and monitor the situation. They haven't actually seen the Dementors, but from the energy traces I can confirm that they are definitely what was causing the energy pollution. There's a map in there that indicates the suspected area, and its coordinates."

"And you say this information is accurate to as of two weeks ago?"

"That was the last time they sampled. They were pulled away to deal with other problems, they're due back to take another sample any day now, I can have those reports sent to you."

"That would be very much appreciated Lucy. Thank you."

Lucy nodded, and turned to the door.

"Is that it then?"

"Beg your pardon, headmaster?"

"Am I to understand that you are giving me this information freely, with no demands for intelligence or security for your Circle?"

Lucy tilted her head, and considered the question. "As for the Circle, they don't know that I have given that to you, but seeing as no harm can really come to us from you knowing where the Dementors are, indeed this may speed up their removal, I don't see how they can really object, unless out of principle."

"Principle?"

"Sharing information and helping those who would not scruple to put us in harm's way."

"And what say you to that principle, Lucy?"

"Sir, a few days ago a group of people, many of whom don't have any idea who I am, donated a great deal of money so that I could stay here. They didn't do it for a reward, they just did it because it was the right thing to do."

Dumbledore nodded. "And this made an impression?"

Lucy shrugged, "I could hardly be outdone by Slytherins, sir." She added a bit more seriously, "It was just the right thing to do. Professor de La Vega would have done the same thing, only sooner, perhaps."

Dumbledore smiled, "I think your mentor will be very proud when he hears of this, my dear. It is very valuable information, and I thank you for it, on my behalf and on behalf of those who will never know where it came from."

Lucy nodded.

"Goodbye, Professor."

"Goodbye, Miss Montero."

* * *

"Lynx, I advise you strongly not to eat that chocolate frog."

"Hmph?"

"You have already slaughtered an entire crate, leave the chocolate frog alone, I beg you."

Lynx pondered the chocolate frog in his hand before tossing it aside, unopened.

Bet, satisfied that they were out of danger from Lynx puking all over the compartment, settled back in her seat. Lucy was leafing through a small notebook.

"Bet, did you give me your phone number?"

"We don't have a phone at the house, there is a number at my uncle's, we won't be there until late July-"

"Give it to me will you?"

Rasheph rolled his eyes, "Lucy, you realize that we have been taking care of ourselves for some 16 odd years, we're going to survive for a few months without you."

Lucy blushed, "I didn't mean that, I mean, just, if something happens..."

She didn't finish the thought, she didn't have to. The Ministry had not yet commented on that attack at the school, but they all knew that it was likely to be an eventful summer.

Bet took the notebook from Lucy's hands and scribbled down the number.

"Thanks."

It was a quiet ride to Kings Cross, Lucy slept part of the way and was brought roughly back to consciousness by Lynx's bellow.

"Get up!"

"Thank you, Mr. Brimstead, for waking me in that thoughtful and delicate manner."

Lynx shrugged, and Lucy went to go get her trunk.

The platform was bedlam, as always, but different this year in that Lucy had people to say goodbye to. She left her trunk by itself before finding Misha and the Slytherins, giving Warren a final hug goodbye and getting contact information from Wesley and William.

"Lucy!"

She turned to see Marguerite and Parker standing nearby with their trunks.

"I had no idea you were such an accomplished dancer, Lucy."

"Watch it Chester."

Marguerite grinned, "My parents are taking me back to France for the summer, and Parker's family may be coming down for a few weeks."

"That works out nicely, doesn't it?"

"You know if you are ever nearby they would love to have you."

Lucy impulsively gave the little blond girl a hug. "I promise to take you up on that if I'm ever in France. Here, give me your address and whatnot. You too Parker."

While the first years were scribbling, Lucy saw Seamus trying to get her attention.

"Be right back," she crossed over and gave him a hug.

"Um, Lucy, do you know that person?"

"What person?"

"There's a chap over there who's been staring at you for the past ten minutes, and I was wondering if you knew him, or if he was spying on you."

Lucy scanned the the crowd in the direction Seamus had pointed.

"Oh Lord, if the Ministry has people tracking us again I'm going to-"

Seamus stepped back at Lucy's high-pitched shriek. Before he could understand what was happening she had sprinted across the platform and thrown herself into the arms of a tall, dark haired young man standing next to the barrier.

She then stepped back and punched him in the shoulder.

"Easy there Lucia, I'm an invalid."

"Invalid shminvalid, where the HELL have you been?"

"Here and there."

"Here and there? HERE and THERE!"

"There's nothing wrong with my hearing, you know."

Seamus didn't catch the next part because Lucy started ranting on very loudly and very quickly in agitated Spanish.

"...and all the time WORRIED TO DEATH about you!"

"What's a Dementor?"

"Don't try and change the subject!"

At this point Seamus had come over behind Lucy, and coughed discretely.

Lucy spun around and flushed a bit.

"Oh, yes. Seamus, this is my friend Diego Alvarez, Diego, Seamus Finnegin."

Diego held out his hand. "Nice to meet you, you don't speak Spanish, do you?"

Seamus returned Diego's firm grip. "Not at all."

"Good, then I don't have to apologize for la niña's filthy language."

Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Faustas is going to be very disappointed in you."

"Faustas can be whatever he likes, so long as he's PRESENT."

"He's waiting for us, he seemed to think he would be a little conspicuous at an English train station."

"Waiting for us where?"

"It's a surprise, are you ready?"

Lucy turned and gave Seamus a final hug.

"Try to stay out of trouble, Lucy."

"I always try."

"Try harder than normal for a change."

Lucy stuck out her tongue, took her trunk in her right hand and Diego in her left and led him out of King's Cross.

"So where are we going?"

"Lucy, you do know what the meaning of a surprise is, right?"

"Diego, after the past few weeks, I have had enough surprises to last me a lifetime."

The End.

Author's note:

Don't normally do these, but hey, it's the last chapter.

That being said, for any and all interested, I am planning on writing Lucy's 3rd year at Hogwarts, year 7 for Harry and Co., but have no idea when it will be started. I am working at the same time on In A Century, which has nothing to do with canon characters, and as such can be much more fun at times.

In the meantime, I highly recommend reading the Serpent's Society series by Amberdulen, it is excellently written, there are 4 so far, and you can look forward along with me to a 5th by July or so. However, in my defense, the idea of the BA was formed before I ever read her tales of the Society for Slytherin Advancement.

Also, although it hasn't been updated in a year, Love on the Quidditch Pitch is by far the best read of any Harry Potter fanfiction I have found, characters are brilliant, it is very clever, and terribly funny. It also takes place entirely during a professional Quidditch match in the 1950's.

I would like to thank those darling girls, or, I think they are all girls, who have been reviewing what seems like every chapter of this story. That was very much unexpected and is sincerely appreciated. I am not online right now or I would go find your names, but, well, look at the reviews, and there they are. Thanks.


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